Major setback for India's green cause: Mallikarjun Kharge on Madhav Gadgil's demise

New Delhi: Congress leaders on Thursday condoled the death of noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying India has lost one of its foremost voices in ecological inquiry and that his demise is a major setback for the country's green cause.

Gadgil, known for his work on the Western Ghats, passed away in Pune after a brief illness, family sources said on Thursday. He was 83.

Gadgil breathed his last late Wednesday night at a hospital in Pune, the sources said.

"In the passing of Dr. Madhav Gadgil, India has lost one of its foremost voices in ecological inquiry. His leadership helped turn scientific evidence into protective action, most notably through decisive engagement with landmark conservation efforts and community rights, particularly in the Western Ghats," Kharge said in a post on X.

A recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, and Karnataka's Rajyotsava Prashasthi, he leaves behind an enduring imprint on research, teaching, and ecological conservation, and his departure is a major setback for the country's green cause, Kharge said.

"My deepest condolences to his family, friends and the scientific community," he said.

Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh hailed Gadgil as a top-notch academic scientist, a tireless field researcher, a pioneering institution-builder, a great communicator, a firm believer in people's networks and movements, and friend, philosopher, guide, and mentor to many for over five decades.

"Trained at the very best universities in modern science, he was at the same time a champion of traditional knowledge systems - especially in biodiversity conservation," Ramesh said on X.

His influence on public policy has been profound going back to his crucial role in the Save Silent Valley Movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Congress leader said.

"His (Gadgil) intervention to protect forests in Bastar was crucial in the mid-80s. Later, he gave shape to a new direction to the Botanical Survey of India and the Zoological Survey of India. During 2009-2011, he chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel and wrote its report in a most sensitive and democratic manner that remains unmatched in both substance and style," Ramesh recalled.

He had studied biology at Harvard under E O Wilson, who had been hailed as Darwin's Heir, Ramesh noted.

Although inspired by Wilson, Gadgil -- unlike most others who went to study abroad -- came back to India to build its own research capacities and capabilities, guide students, engage with local communities, and make a difference to policy, he said.

In all of these he succeeded more than admirably, Ramesh added.

Luckily three years back he was able to bring out his delightful memoir, which is at once educative, entertaining, and enlightening, Ramesh said.

Gadgil's life was devoted to scholarship in the noblest sense of the term and he will remain an iconic and inspirational figure, the former environment minister said.

"Speaking on a personal note, in the twenty-six months I was Environment Minister during May 2009-July 2011, I turned to him every other day for guidance and advice. And our conversations were not confined to matters related to ecology," Ramesh said.

"We spoke often of his father Dhananjay Gadgil, one of India's greatest economists and author of that classic The Industrial Evolution of India in Recent Times, first published in 1924. We would also speak of the intricacies of the Indian monsoon, since his wife Sulochana was an authority on the subject," he said.

Nation builders come in different forms and varieties and Gadgil was definitely one of them, Ramesh said.

"Above all he had the hallmark of a true scholar -- he was gentle, unassuming, and exuded empathy and humility -- behind which was a vast ocean of knowledge and learning," Ramesh said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also condoled Gadgil's demise.

"Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Madhav Gadgil, a compassionate voice for nature and social justice. His life's work will continue to inspire generations. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones," Priyanka Gandhi said on X.

In 2024, the United Nations presented Gadgil with the annual Champions of the Earth award, the UN's highest environmental honour, for his seminal work on the Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot.

Gadgil had chaired the government-constituted Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to study the impact of population pressure, climate change, and development activities on the ecologically fragile region in India.