Noted environmentalist Madhav Gadgil has criticised the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest’s (MoEF) decision this week creating ‘ecologically sensitive areas’ in the Western Ghats, claiming that exclusionist development of the biodiversity hotspot would be detrimental to people living there.
Gadgil, a Padma Bhushan award winner who in the past headed a committee which had authored a study on the Western Ghats, also said that gram sabhas in villages in the Western Ghats region should be empowered to decide what development needed to be done in their respective areas.
“The decision of the Ministry is a most regrettable decision, violating science, democracy and environmental concerns and it is to be hoped that the enlightened people of the Western Ghats tract will ensure that their will prevails,” Gadgil has said in a written statement.
Gadgil has in the recent past opposed vehemently the findings of a High level Working Group headed by scientist Dr Kasturirangan, which had advocated that part of the Western Ghats be opened up for development and part for conservation.