The monsoon fury, one of the worst in 100 years in Kerala, Karnataka and other States has been the manmade disaster ignoring the warnings of the experts who dealt with it.
These States which fall under ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) also known as Gadgil Committee report has been ignored and rejected by Kerala and Karnataka for political reasons. Many experts now feel the entire episode was manmade and say the wrong political decisions has put people into this horrible hardships.
The report by professor Madhav Gadgil and his team has put many suggestions to protect the eco sensitive zone in the western Ghats.
Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru had suggested that 140,000 kilometres of the Western Ghats be classified in three zones as per the requirement of environmental protection in the areas.In some areas, the committee recommended strong restrictions on mining and quarrying, use of land for non forest purposes, construction of high rises etc. The report was first submitted to the government in 2011.
Speaking to reporters Madhav Gadgil has said that irresponsible environmental policy is to be blamed for the recent floods and landslides in Kerala. He also called it a “man-made calamity”.
He said that the committee report had recommended to protect the resources with the cooperation of local self governments and people, but those recommendations were rejected. He also pointed out that quarrying is a major reason for the mudslides and landslides. The question now is whom do we blameij Will political leadership answerij