TEAM HERALD
[email protected]
PANJIM: The Ministry of Environment and Forests appointed Dr K Kasturirangan Committee to review the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report, has arrived in Goa to study the wildlife cover, effects and challenges of climate change, developmental works in the region and implications of the UNSECO heritage tag, if granted.
The committee, besides examining the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report in holistic and multidisciplinary manner, will also consult the State government and other stakeholders such as environmentalists.
The nine-member committee, constituted in August 17, has been asked to submit its report by February 2013.
The committee was formed keeping in view the comments received from the Central and State governments/stakeholders on the report.
Kasturirangan is accompanied by Sunita Narain (Director, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi), C R Babu (Delhi University), J M Mauskar (ex-Special Secretary, MoEF), P S Roy (Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun) and Ajay Tyagi (Joint Secretary, MoEF).
The Gadgil panel report had termed Western Ghats an extremely ecologically sensitive region and suggested restricted mining and other developmental activities. The report had recommended ‘indefinite moratorium’ on new environmental clearances for mining in the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) in Goa.
The Goa government had hinted that it might not accept the Gadgil panel’s recommendations as it would amount to locking almost 50-60 per cent of the State’s land resource. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had made the statement during the State Legislative Assembly’s Monsoon Session, last year.
