After being directed to take a clear stand, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Wednesday informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it was “not processing” Madhav Gadgil’s Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report for any further action.
In an affidavit filed in response to a petition by the Goa Foundation, the Ministry said all future activity would be based on the report of the high-level working group (HLWG) headed by K. Kasturirangan, the then member of the Planning Commission. The HLWG report was a subsequent report to the WGEEP report and the Ministry was examining and further processing the HLWG report, the affidavit said.
The affidavit comes in response to an August 25 NGT order where the Ministry was asked to explain its position vis-à-vis the Gadgil report.
The affidavit said the Ministry had constituted the HLWG on August 17, 2012 to examine the WGEEP report in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion keeping in view the comments received from State governments concerned, Central ministries and stakeholders. The HLWG submitted its report on April 15, 2013. The Ministry issued a direction under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act on November 13, 2013 ordering immediate protection to the Western Ghats and maintaining its environmental integrity. A draft notification was published on March 10, 2014, declaring ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats to which objections had been invited.
Raj Panjwani, counsel for the Goa Foundation, said the area which was declared ecologically sensitive came down from 1.29 lakh sq km to 56,825 sq km in the Kasturirangan report. He contended that the area which was left out also needed protection. The tribunal asked him to file objections to the draft notification delineating the eco-sensitive zones as per the Kasturirangan report. Mr. Panjwani said he had no objection to file the same. He said the concern was a large area was left out which needed protection.
Counsel for the Ministry said the government was open to considering extension of areas to be declared eco-sensitive and sought time to get back on whether this was possible. The next hearing will be held on September 9.
An Environment Ministry official later said the Gadgil report was not jettisoned and it was the basis for the Kasturirangan report.
The NGT on Monday asked the Ministry to clarify its stand on the Gadgil report which was opposed by most of the seven State governments since it restricted development in much of the Western Ghats region and had declared about 1.29 lakh hectares eco-sensitive. The NGT headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar had hauled up the Ministry for not taking a clear stand on the fate of the Gadgil report.
