Kozhikode: Green activists and their opponents who have been at loggerheads ever since the Madhav Gadgil Report on the protection of the Western Ghats, together welcomed the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest to withdraw its earlier order on the Kasturirangan Committee report. The sense of relief expressed by the two groups, however, is based on totally different premises and perceptions.
The green activists welcomed the decision with the hope that it would pave the way for bringing back to focus Madahav Gadgil Committee report which according to them had pleaded for a ‘people centric’conservation strategy while the Kasturirnagan Committee report had opted for a top-down approach. The church and other political parties, on the other hand, are happy that the new order will put to an end to the vexed problem of Western Ghats protection for the time being.
“The decision of the MOEF is a victory for the quarrying and mining lobby in the state,” said G.S. Vijayan, former chairman of the Kerala State Bio-diversity Board and one of the members of the Madhav Gadgil Committee. “Since I have not seen the order of the ministry fully I am not in a position to offer a detailed comment. But from what I have gathered from media reports, I believe it is surrender to the quarrying and mining lobby,” he said.
The Kasturirangan Report needed to be withdrawn, he said, and added that people with a sense of ecology could not have agreed with the methods adopted by it or its conclusions. “Nearly 85 per cent of the ecologically sensitive areas in Kerala coming under the Western Ghats region are already protected as they have wild life sanctuaries and reserve forest areas,” Vijayan said.
Only 15 per cent of the region in the Western Ghats in the state come under ecologically sensitive areas according to the definition of the Kasthurirangan Committee report. “The quarry and mining lobby in the state wants to have a free run in these areas by removing 123 villages from the ecologically sensitive areas.” The latest notification of the ministry should be seen as a first step towards such decision, he said.
The government and the policy makers in the state should take this opportunity to relook at the Gadgil Committee report, he added. The identification of 123 villages in Kerala under the category of ecologically sensitive was one of the major reasons for the opposition to the report from various sections of the people in the state. The opponents of the implementation of the report are of the opinion all developmental activities in the villages identified as ESA will come to a standstill.
The Thamarassery diocese Bishop Remegiose Inchananiyil, who threatened of Jalianwala Bagh type situation in the event of the government going ahead with implementation of the Kasthurirnagan Report had welcomed the latest decision of the government. “Very happy news if it is true”, was the first reaction of the Bishop.
“The anguish and wailing of the poor people of the high ranges of Kerala seems to have finally reached the authorities concerned in Delhi and they have decided to respond to it. It is a welcome step”, he said. The Bishop also thanked all the persons who supported struggle against the implementation of the report.
