'Centre seeks report from 6 states on Kasturirangan report'

Jana Sanghrama Parishat State Vice President Prof Yatiraj has said that Kasturirangan report diluted the recommendations of Madhav Gadgil report on Western Ghats.

Delivering a talk at the workshop organised by Udupi district Bharathiya Kisan Sangh here on Monday, the expert noted that the two reports had different versions and Gadgil report seems to have taken into consideration of the people who reside on the periphery of the Western Ghats. Hence when the Gadgil report was submitted on August 31, 2011, it was kept confidential by the then Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan.

However, following the Delhi High Court order, the content of the report was revealed and to conceal its pro-green stance, wide anti-campaign was launched. Besides, a high level working group committee was formed under the leadership of Kasturirangan, who is an astro physicist. The committee was formed on August 17, 2012. The very matter that the Madhav Gadgil is an environmentalist and Kasturirangan, a space research scientist itself speakes volumes of the government’s apathy, Prof Yatiraj asserted.

The Kasturirangan report was submitted on March 18, 2013. Initially, around 400 NGOs had opposed Gadgil report and continued opposing Kasturirangan report too. Prof Yatiraj accused the UPA and Kerala government using the report for political gain in Kerala. The scientific report was transformed into a political game player. The expert said that currently the new Union government has sought the opinion of respective State governments on the report. The six States, which are in Western Ghat stretch, have demanded two months time to respond to the proposal.

 In Karnataka, as many as 14 committees were constituted under the leadership of respective Deputy Commissioners of the affected districts.

The DCs should prepare a report comprising the details of the villages affected and the problems of the residents in the area, he urged.

Merits of Gadgil report

Emphasising over Gadgil report, the expert said the committee was formed to assess the status of Western Ghats ecology.

The probable protective measures on priority for sensitive areas and earmarking the biodiversity sensitive zone are other objectives. The report was finalised after 47 meetings.
Prof Yatiraj added that Gadgil report attempted to look into Western Ghats as an integrated landmass for the first time. Gadgil recommended that entire Western Ghats area should be considered as an ecologically sensitive area. The report was not anti-development.

It strongly recommended the amalgamation of development process with that of conservation. It strongly opposed special economic zones and new hill stations in the Western Ghats. It was totally against the concept of township.

The report supported the decentralisation of water resources in the region within the next 20 years. It opposed sand mining. The report supported participatory sand auditing and the protection of high altitude swamps. Promotion of organic farming in the area, ban on cultivating genetically modified crop are some of his major recommendations.

The expert said the report recommended setting up of Western Ghats Ecology Authority without political interference and Ecology Management Committee. 

Kasturirangan report

Pointing out at Kasturirangan report, Prof Yatiraj said the report divides Western Ghats into two categories. As many as 41.56 per cent of the total region come under natural landscape category and 57.5 per cent come under cultural landscape. The major threat in the report is recommendation for ecological services levy, he said.

For instance, the farmers who use natural resources like water may have to pay tax. There are as many as 58 rivers flowing in the region and nearly 25 crore of people in Deccan Plateau are directly dependent on Western Ghats. The conspiracy to privatise the water resources in the region is evident in the report. He added that the cultural landscapes are thrown open for any activities as per the recommendations made in the Kasturirangan report.