Explained: What Did Gadgil Report Recommend For Western Ghats Ecology

Amidst the flood fury in hilly regions of Western Ghats particularly in central Kerala districts of Kottayam and Idukki, triggered by heavy rains, things are getting worse for the fourth consecutive year. Kerala has been witnessing the wrath of nature since 2018 when heavy rains had triggered floods in the state, killing around 483 people and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. The floods and heavy landslides came back in 2019 and 2020 and continue this year as well.

And once again the eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil highlighted that "Things are getting worse in Western Ghats." Although he has been actively pointing out this issue not only since the 2018 floods but the whole problem around Western Ghats is extensively discussed in a report based on his own name, the Gadgil report.

So, what exactly is the Gadgil report?

It started with the then Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh appointing Gadgil Commission under the chairmanship of ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2010. This commission, also called The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), was based on the environmental research of the entire Western Ghats of India.

BCCL

The commission submitted its 552-page report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 31 August 2011, however, the recommendations of the report were never taken seriously by any government, hence left unimplemented.

What did the report recommend?

The report was labelled favourable to environment and environmentalists however not to the development. The panel, in its report, classified the extensive region of 64% of the Western Ghats, spanning over six States, 44 districts and 142 taluks, into Ecologically Sensitive Zones, called ESZ 1, ESZ 2 and ESZ 3.

Recognised by UNESCO as one of the world¡¯s eight most important biodiversity hotspots, Western Ghats contains more than 30 percent of all species of plant, fish, reptile, amphibian, bird and mammal found in the whole country.

ESZ-1 of the Ghats was given high priority and almost all developmental activities like mining, construction of thermal power plants, dams etc were suggested to stop along with the decommissioning of similar projects that have completed their shelf life.

The panel suggested the need to desist from creating new hill stations, changing the land use from farmland to non-farm land and the stoppage of diversions of rivers in order to protect the ecology of the region.

Further, the report had also suggested a better way of governance of the environment. It proposed a bottom to top approach instead of a top to bottom approach, basically, the decentralization and more powers to local authorities.

BCCL

Besides, it also recommended the constitution of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA), as a statutory authority under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The report had also asserted that, "A policy shift is urgently warranted curtailing the environmentally disastrous practices and switching over to a more sustainable farming approach in the Western Ghats."

Unsurprisingly, there was opposition from almost all political parties as no elected chief minister of any state was willing to hand over the control to Western Ghats [Ecological] Authority and hamper the developmental activities. Even Gadgil faced heavy criticism for this report and was called an ¡®eco terrorist with a hidden agenda¡¯.

Another report

Although the Gadgil report was not implemented but couldn¡¯t be pushed aside as well. The National Green Tribunal followed the developments closely which led to formation of another panel in 2012. Headed by former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, the new panel was asked to examine the Gadgil report.

The findings of this committee diluted the emphasis on environmental preservation, recommending that just 37% of the Western Ghats region be designated as an ESA, down from 64%.

It also split the Western Ghats into cultural (human settlements) and natural (non-human settlements) regions. It was suggested that cultural lands be designated as an ecologically sensitive area (ESA). At the time, Gadgil lamented that the Kasturirangan panel had "destroyed the essence of his panel's report."

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Ironically, no action was taken on either of the reports after widespread protests from farmers, the church and political parties.

Four years of flood

As mentioned above, the state of Kerala has been witness to frequent floods for several years especially since the monsoon flood of 2018 which not only took many lives but also caused unprecedented damage, estimated to be to the tune of Rs 4 lakh crore. Because of this, the perennial debate of development vs environment was also brought to the fore.

Pointing out how the implementation of his report could have avoided the present unfortunate events, Gadgil, talking with the New Indian Express, asserted that it was essential for Kerala government to discuss his report at the grama sabha level in order to create awareness on the need to conserve nature, in view of recurring floods.

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