State sabotaging Western Ghats protection: greens

The Hindu, August 18, 2015 
PATHANAMTHITTA,

People as well as elected governments are bound to ensure the protection of Western Ghats for the existence of life, Kerala River Protection Council (KRPC) president V.N. Gopinatha Pillai and secretary S. Seetharaman have said.

In a joint statement issued here on Monday, Mr. Pillai and Dr. Seetharaman accused the State government of making anti-environment decisions in the name of development, eyeing certain vote banks.

They alleged that the government was sabotaging the protection of the Western Ghats, disregarding its environmental importance.

Rich in biodiversity

The Western Ghats was the origin of many river systems and the abode of a rich biodiversity and eco-system.

Corporate companies were plundering the natural resources, biodiversity, and drinking water with the backing of the government, they alleged.

‘Comply with rules’

It was of prime importance to strictly comply with the Western Ghats protection, Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act-2008, coastal land conservation, they said.

The council leaders further called upon the government to withdraw the bill of 2015 that justified paddy land conversions.

‘Take over quarries’

The government should take over all granite quarries and adopt a ‘tree policy’ to protect the trees standing on the wayside from indiscriminate felling.

The council would stage a dharna in front of the Secretariat to press its various demands on Wednesday.

Poet to inaugurate

Social activist and poet Sugathakumari will inaugurate the dharna at 11 a.m.

Environmentalists R.V.G. Menon, V.S. Vijayan, C.R. Neelakantan, John Peruvanthanam, Usha S., R. Sreedhar, Geetha Nazeer, Sobheendran, S. Ramachandran, and Jayakumar will address the dharna.

T.N. Prathapan, MLA, will also be present.