Pachauri for public debate on Western Ghat reports

An informed, transparent debate involving the public should be imperative in the implementation of either the Madhav Gadgil committee report or the Kasturirangan committee report on the Western Ghats, said R.K. Pachauri, Nobel laureate and Chairperson of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, here on Friday.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 7th International Congress of Environmental Research, at R.V. College of Engineering here, Mr. Pachauri said it was left entirely to the public and those affected to decide on the implementation of the report.

There has been opposition from those staying along the Western Ghats for both the Gadgil report and the Kasturirangan report that had suggested identification of ‘eco-sensitive areas’ along the forests where there would be restrictions on certain development and industrial activities.

“We cannot lose the biodiversity present, because if we lose it, we will not get it back. We are a democracy, and it is up to the people to decide its implementation. We have to look at the entirety of the issue,” he said.

However, Prashant Bhushan, senior Supreme Court advocate, was equivocal in his support for the Gadgil report (which suggests 64 per cent area in the Western Ghats to be protected under stringent terms) instead of the Kasturirangan report (which recommends keeping 37 per cent of the Western Ghats area out of bounds for polluting industries only).

“Just as the opposition to environmental regulations, the protests against the Gadgil report have been instigated politically … the judiciary should step in,” he said.

He believed the dilution of Western Ghats protection and the proposed amendments to the environmental laws undo the work of environmentalists and people’s movements.

More than 500 participants from 25 countries are expected to attend the three-day conference that would discuss the implications of climate change.

‘Anti-conversion law unconstitutional’

An anti-conversion law is unconstitutional as it goes against the fundamental right of the citizen to choose or change his/her religion, said senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan here on Friday.

Mr. Bhushan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference that the BJP and its affiliates were attempting to bring about the law by “forcibly” converting citizens. “It is illegal to convert under force or pressure. And what the VHP and the Bajrang Dal are doing across the country is just that,” he said.