Environment Ministry dumps Gadgil report on Western Ghats

Meena Menon
NEW DELHI,  
The Hindu, August 27, 2014 

After being directed to take a clear stand, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Wednesday informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it was “not processing” Madhav Gadgil’s Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report for any further action.

In an affidavit filed in response to a petition by the Goa Foundation, the Ministry said all future activity would be based on the report of the high-level working group (HLWG) headed by K. Kasturirangan, the then member of the Planning Commission. The HLWG report was a subsequent report to the WGEEP report and the Ministry was examining and further processing the HLWG report, the affidavit said.

The affidavit comes in response to an August 25 NGT order where the Ministry was asked to explain its position vis-à-vis the Gadgil report.

The affidavit said the Ministry had constituted the HLWG on August 17, 2012 to examine the WGEEP report in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion keeping in view the comments received from State governments concerned, Central ministries and stakeholders. The HLWG submitted its report on April 15, 2013. The Ministry issued a direction under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act on November 13, 2013 ordering immediate protection to the Western Ghats and maintaining its environmental integrity. A draft notification was published on March 10, 2014, declaring ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats to which objections had been invited.

Raj Panjwani, counsel for the Goa Foundation, said the area which was declared ecologically sensitive came down from 1.29 lakh sq km to 56,825 sq km in the Kasturirangan report. He contended that the area which was left out also needed protection. The tribunal asked him to file objections to the draft notification delineating the eco-sensitive zones as per the Kasturirangan report. Mr. Panjwani said he had no objection to file the same. He said the concern was a large area was left out which needed protection.

Counsel for the Ministry said the government was open to considering extension of areas to be declared eco-sensitive and sought time to get back on whether this was possible. The next hearing will be held on September 9.

An Environment Ministry official later said the Gadgil report was not jettisoned and it was the basis for the Kasturirangan report.

The NGT on Monday asked the Ministry to clarify its stand on the Gadgil report which was opposed by most of the seven State governments since it restricted development in much of the Western Ghats region and had declared about 1.29 lakh hectares eco-sensitive. The NGT headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar had hauled up the Ministry for not taking a clear stand on the fate of the Gadgil report. 

 

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ESA draft in a day or two: Oommen

T. Nandakumar
Thiruvananthapuram,  
The Hindu, March 1, 2014 

The Central Government is expected to issue a draft notification excluding about 2,500 sq km of human settlements, plantations and agricultural land from the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) earmarked by the High Level Working Group (HLWG) for conservation of the Western Ghats headed by K. Kasturirangan, according to Oommen V. Oommen, chairman of a three-member panel set up by the state to study the impact of the HLWG report.

Prof. Oommen, who represented Kerala at an official discussion convened by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in New Delhi on Thursday, said he had received an assurance from MoEF officials that the draft notification on implementation of the HLWG report would be issued in a day or two. He said the official delegation from Kerala had submitted land-use records and other documents to convince the MoEF officials of the need to take stakeholders into confidence while implementing the report.

Talking to The Hindu at the venue of the National Science Day celebrations here on Friday, he said the exemption of 2,500 sq km from the ESA regulations, including quarrying, mining, Red category industries, thermal power plants and construction of townships and buildings, would help remove the apprehensions of the people and ensure their involvement in the implementation of the HLWG report. “As beneficiaries of the Western Ghats conservation, it is the people who matter.”

Prof. Oommen said an expert committee comprising officials from the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSRSEC), Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Kerala State Biodiversity Board had validated the field reports and maps submitted by panchayat-level committees set up to verify the extent of ESAs in Kerala following widespread opposition to the HLWG’s demarcation based on satellite data.

“The expert committee’s assessment of the land use maps revealed that 2,500 sq km demarcated by the HLWG comprises settlements, farms and plantations. We have urged the MoEF to declassify this area as ESA in view of the mounting apprehensions of the public,” Prof. Oommen said.

The Kasturirangan committee had earmarked 123 villages spread over 13,108 sq km in Kerala as ESA, a figure including 12,477 sq km of natural landscape. Records produced by the Forest Department show the extent of the forest cover to be 11,309 sq km, including 9,108 sq km of reserve forest, 1,837 sq km of Environmentally Fragile Land (EFL) and 364 sq km of proposed reserve forest, while the maps available with the KSRSEC show the forest cover to be 9,997 sq km.

Prof. Oommen said the state had offered to take up the conservation of almost 1,000 sq km outside the reserve forest area. The figure represents the difference between the KSREC data and the reserve forest area shown in the Forest Department map.

 

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