Forum to hold talks with local residents on Ghats reports

Members of Paschima Ghatta Samrakshana Horata Vedike (Western Ghats Protection Forum) will hold talks with people residing in the vicinity of the Ghats to raise their voice against the government’s decision to dilute the Kasturirangan report for implementation.

The Vedike wants the government to implement the Madhav Gadgil report.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Vedike convener C Yethiraj said the government had chosen the diluted version of the Kasturirangan report for forest conservation, instead of the Gadgil report. The forest rights have been diluted in the Kasturirangan report. The government has further diluted it by setting terms like permitting partial mining and reducing the natural landscape percentage, he claimed.

“The government has not explained the reports and their implications completely to the people and is misguiding them. So, we are going to the locals, which includes tribals, farmers, residents on the Ghat boundaries with both the reports to explain the truth to them. It is up to the people to decide what they want and place their decision before the government. So far, two workshops have been held, one in Chikmagalur and the other in Dakshina Kannada,” he said.

The Vedike members had met the government many times in the past requesting for the implementation of the Gadgil report or the Kasturirangan report in totality. But neither of their demands has been met, he said.