The very ethos of the Western Ghats Development Programme (WGDP), launched in 1981 under the centre’s Special Areas Programme, has been “laid to rest’’
The region’s ecology is under threat as growth is given preference over biodiversity conservationNEW DELHI: A leading group concerned with the protection of the Western Ghats has strongly recommended corrective measures to curb the spate of mindless development under the guise of economic growth in Maharashtra.
The very ethos of the Western Ghats Development Programme (WGDP), launched in 1981 under the centre’s Special Areas Programme, has been “laid to rest’’, the group says in its report.
“From relentless construction of dams to river diversions and from road or rail development to creation of special economic zones, the economics of development have outstripped the four guiding principles of the WGDP,” the report adds.
Thus, ecological balance, which is essential for the life support system, has been given the go-by. Preservation of the genetic diversity is of little importance to the developers of the 1,600-km stretch from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu.
“From northern extreme of Maharashtra to southern most tip of Kerala, the 159,000 sq km area on the Western Ghats in six states is in various stages of ecological destruction,” says Pandurang Hegde, leader of the famous Appiko movement.
New sites for development are being created across the region that is considered to be one of the 18 biodiversity hotspots in the world.
“The empathy of conservation reflected through the Silent Valley and Save the Nilgiris campaigns has seemingly been lost,” says Hegde.
The political economy of development is threatening to weaken the resilience of the system, be it the ongoing tussle on the issue of Kerala’s Athirapalley dam or the elusive 4,000 MW thermal power project along the west coast at Tadadi in Karnataka.
“One only needs to look outside one’s window to locate such symbols of so-called progress,” says Dr Sudhirendar Sharma, who recently travelled across the length of the Western Ghats to publish an as-is-where-is travelogue-cum-report called Paradise Lost… almost.
“The stakes for saving the Western Ghats are much higher and the scope much wider,” argues Dr Sharma. “What the Amazon is to the South Americas, the Western Ghats are to Asia — the incredible gains of conservation stretch far beyond the often narrowly conceived ecological gains,” he adds.
Offering a solution to the existing problem, he says, “Opportunities do exist to encash forest conservation at the Global Forest Compensation Window being created at the global level. Direct benefit of carbon credits in the emerging market of carbon trade can also be accrued.”
The entire region stands to gain as it is the gateway to life-saving monsoons that provide water security to the Indian subcontinent.
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