Ecologist Madhav Gadgil has brushed aside the interpretations made by certain sections about the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report that the mountain range was unfit for human habitation.
Dr. Gadgil told the media at Kottakkal on Wednesday that the WGEEP report, widely called the Gadgil report, was misinterpreted by certain groups. He said the recommendations made by the WGEEP were only a starting point of a democratic process.
“The report was not a detailed recommendation. Preparing a detailed recommendation after visiting the entire Western Ghats from Gujarat to Kanyakumari is not practical. Therefore, we submitted only a broad recommendation. When considering it for implementation, the government will consider local and social preferences and people’s reactions,” he said.
Onus on local bodies
Dr. Gadgil said local bodies could chalk out plans for ecological conservation on the basis of the recommendations. “We never insisted that our recommendations be accepted in total. Each panchayat can modify or reject them,” he said.
Dr. Gadgil rejected the allegations that the recommendations banned construction in the Western Ghats as baseless.
On Kerala floods
He said the recent flood and landslips in Kerala were not completely man-made. “Natural calamities are a complex phenomenon. There will be multiple factors. Extreme rainfalls were partially responsible. But man-made causes too contributed,” he said.
According to him, there can be landslips if natural vegetation cover is destroyed. “Construction of roads, certain types of quarries, levelling of land using heavy machineries can all disturb the area and trigger landslips,” he said.
Dr. Gadgil received the Karma award instituted by the MKR Foundation, Kottakkal, from Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair. The award consists of ₹1 lakh and a commemorative plaque. The MKR Foundation, a charity organisation , chose Dr. Gadgil for its fifth edition of the award recognising his ‘karma’ or actions that promoted the well-being of society.
