Madhav Gadgil Report - Is it the ideal way ?

To start with, the Madhav Gadgil Committee was formed during the tenure of the UPA government. The committee was primarily formed for providing recommendations on protecting the ecological balance of the Western Ghats. During the latter half of the UPA government, another committee on similar lines, namely the K Kasturirangan panel was set up.

According to the Gadgil committee, 94-97% area of the Western Ghats should be considered as eco-sensitive. Hence, any developmental activity should be given green signal on the grounds that it would not disturb the lifestyle and ecology of the region. There was some mismatch with the recommendations of the other committee that stated that only about 34-37% area of the Western Ghats is eco-sensitive. It should be noted that the Gadgil committee is headed by Madhav Gadgil who is an ecologist himself and hence knows better about environment conservation than other government officials.

In line with its findings, the Gadgil committee had also stated that the union government should seek the opinion of the local villagers and other people residing in the Western Ghats and take their consensus on the likely ecological impact of any project that would be undertaken there.

Despite the fact that Modi Government had defined development as a people’s movement, such a process of gathering consensus would require sensitizing the village people of the potential threats and implications thereof of any project and hence can cause sufficient delay in implementation of a project. It is also a matter of concern that the village people might be misguided and misled by local politicians who speak their language. Hence there needs to be a proper mechanism in place to sensitize and seek opinions.

Even though the Gadgil committee recommendations are ideal for the environment perspective, yet there is a certain question mark over the efficacy of the process of seeking consensus .