Effective implementation of Gadgil report sought to protect Western Ghats

People rally in Dharwad to implement Madhav Gadgil report for Western Ghats conservation, urging government action for environmental protection.

Seeking effective implementation of the Madhav Gadgil report for conservation of the Western Ghats and also to prevent indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources in the name of development, people from different walks of life, including environmentalists, social activists and academics, took out an awareness rally and staged a demonstration in Dharwad on Wednesday.

Taking out the rally under the banner Parisarakkagi Navu, the participants marched from the Jubilee Circle to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Dharwad where they staged the demonstration.

They said that instances of widespread landslips in Uttara Kannada, Sakleshpur in the State and also at Wayanad in Kerala have occurred not because of nature’s fury but because of man-made mistakes. Skewed development has caused irreparable loss to nature and several innocent lives have been lost, they said.

Addressing the participants, president of Gandhi Peace Foundation Sanjiv Kulkarni, environmentalists Prakash Bhat, Sharada Dabade, Gopal Dabade and others said that large-scale encroachment of forest land, setting up of homestays, resorts, industries and factories in eco-sensitive areas, indiscriminate felling of trees for road widening and laying of railway lines are the reasons for the recent disasters.

They said that the government, without taking into consideration the adverse ecological impact, has continued to permit such activities that endanger nature.  And, now, it is washing its hands off it by announcing compensation for the disasters that have happened, they added.

In its report, the Madhav Gadgil Committee has recommended to the government to set up a Western Ghats Authority and declare the area as an eco-sensitive zone. It has advised against permitting stone quarrying, mining activities and allowing any permanent structures in eco-sensitive zones. It has also suggested promotion of eco-friendly tourism and the formation of forest committees to advise the authority on protecting forest wealth.

However, the successive governments have failed to implement the report, they said.