The central government, on Wednesday, told the National Green Tribunal that it would not follow the recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil report on Western Ghats. The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) said that it is instead examining and processing the report of the high-level working group (HLWG) headed by Dr K Kasturirangan.
The scrapping of the Gadgil report is not entirely unexpected from the government given its attitude to put a certain sort of development ahead of environment. What the scrapping of the recommendation of the report also does is re-emphasise the rivalry between environment and development. The government almost gives a sense that it has chosen growth and development over other concerns.
Here are six key points made by the report that the government just junked:
1. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) designated the entire Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). It divided the area into three zones depending on ecological vulnerability: Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1), Ecologically Sensitive Zone 2 (ESZ2) and Ecologically Sensitive Zone 3 (ESZ3), and the assignment was done at the Taluka level.
2. WGEEP recommended that no new dams based on large scale storage be permitted in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 as defined by the panel. This included a suggestion to not give clearance to the Athirappilly and Gundia hydel projects.
3. For the state of Goa, the WGEEP recommended no further clearance of mining projects in ESZ1 and the phasing out of the existing mining by 2016, while mining in ESZ2 must be brought under serious regulation. “The moratorium on new clearances in ESZ2 can be revisited as and when the situation improves, and when a comprehensive study on the impact of mining on the ecology, environment, human health, and biodiversity by a competent multidisciplinary team, working along with people’s institutions, has been concluded,” the report said.
Also Read: Goa NGO to challenge junking of Madhav Gadgil report on Western Ghats
4. For the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra, the report said only the portions falling under Western Ghats must also come under moratorium for no further clearances. The recommendation was the same as for Goa, and it said for ESZ1 and ESZ2, “No new polluting (red and orange category) industries, which would include coal-based power plants, should be permitted to be established; the existing red and orange category industries should be asked to switch to zero pollution by 2016, again with an effective system of social audit.”
5. The panel had not studied the plains and coastal regions of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, but said that these too were under severe environmental stress. So, the report said, “it is essential that a careful Cumulative Impact Analysis of various development activities in these tracts” must be undertaken as well.
6. The panel said the government must utilise the awareness and the commitment of the people to the cause of environment, and so the government must involve them in the governance and development decision making. So this would include proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act, radical change in the environment clearance processes, disclosure of all information of public interest, awareness programmes and the institution of a social audit process.
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