GADGIL REPORT - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Supreme Court asks Environment Ministry to file counter-affidavit to plea by a
minor to protect Western Ghats
What's in the news?
● Several
environmental activists and NGOs such as the Goa Foundation and Peaceful
Society, Bandora, from across six Western Ghats States have joined hands to
seek judicial intervention to reinstate the recommendations of the Dr. Madhav
Gadgil-headed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel’s report.
● They
have sought an “effective, sustainable and credible conservation regime for the
Western Ghats, its diverse ecosystems and ecologically sensitive zones”.
Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel:
● A
committee headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil also known as the Western Ghats
Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) in 2011 recommended that all of the Western Ghats be declared as the Ecological Sensitive Areas
(ESA) with only limited development allowed in graded zones.
● The
panel had classified the Western Ghats into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3.
● ESZ-1
is a high priority zone, almost all developmental activities (mining, thermal
power plants etc) were restricted in it.
○ Further,
no new dams based on large-scale
storage be permitted in ESZ 1.
● It
specified that the system of governance of the environment should be a bottom to top approach (right from Gram
sabhas) rather than a top to bottom approach.
● Constitution
of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority
(WGEA), as a statutory authority under the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act,
1986.
● The
report was criticized for being more environment-friendly and not in tune with the ground realities.
Western Ghats:
● Western
Ghats consist of a chain of mountains running parallel to India’s Western Coast
and passing from the states of Kerala,
Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
● Western
ghats consisted of a total land area of 1,29,037 sq. km.
● A
population of 50 million people was directly dependent on the Western Ghats and
its ecology, and another 200 million people were indirectly dependent.
● The
future of entire southern India was intimately linked with the healthy survival
of the Western Ghats.
Significance:
● The
Ghats influence the Indian monsoon weather patterns that mediate the warm
tropical climate of the region.
● They
act as a barrier to rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west.
● Western
Ghats are home to tropical evergreen forests, as well as to 325 globally
threatened species.