The MoEF had constituted the expert panel in March 2010. The WGEEP headed by Madhav Gadgil had submitted the report to the MoEF in August last.
In a bid to delay any action on the report by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), a seemingly stubborn Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), acting under court order, has finally put the report online but with an elaborate “disclaimer” that it is “still being analysed and considered” by them.
The MoEF had constituted the expert panel in March 2010. The WGEEP headed by Madhav Gadgil had submitted the report to the MoEF in August last. But since then, the ministry was sitting on the report and repeated queries about it were either avoided or stonewalled by the ministry. Queries posed on the subject every time met the same reply that the environment minister, Jayanthi Natrajan is “still studying the report”.
Aggrieved by such an attitude, people tried to access the report using RTI, but the ministry declined. Finally, last month, the Central Information Commission (CIC) brushed aside MoEF’s contentions and directed them to put a copy of the report on its website. The ministry, however, approached Delhi High Court against the CIC’s decision. But Delhi High Court also dismissed ministry’s plea against making public WGEEP’s report.
It was under this pressure that the environment ministry finally put up the Western Ghat report on their website, but with the disclaimer.
Activists, who described such disclaimers as laughable, have been of the view that ministry just wants to push the issue under carpet even though MoEF itself constituted the panel. The ministry probably fears that once report is made public it could lead to problems because most of the states where Western Ghats are spread have carried out various activities in the ecologically sensitive area, which can come under scanner and can be questioned.
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