The Western Ghat Protection Forum has urged the student community and the youth of the country to raise their voice for Western Ghats as it concerns their future also.
Commenting on the Centre’s urgency to implement the Kasturirangan committee’s recommendations concerning Western Ghats as against the Madhav Gadgil committee’s recommendations, the Forum urged the public to pressurise the Centre in favour of the latter committee.
The Forum opined that the Gadgil Committee’s recommendations were democratic, scientific and comprehensive to suit the interests of the local communities, environment and farming sector. By implementing the Kasturirangan recommendations, the Centre was trying to cheat 28 crore people. The State government too is struggling in the darkness in this matter and the Chief Minister seems not to have taken the pains to go through the report. Various lobbies are trying to exploit the opportunity.
The opposition parties join the stream and turn a blind eye towards the various public protests against exploitation of the environment happening along the Western Ghats. Implementation of the Kasturirangan report will only help the mining lobbies, the forum alleged. The Forum demanded that Western Ghats development authorities should be formed and that Panchayat Raj system should be used to implement the Gadgil committee recommendations.
