According to natural environmentalists or scientists of nature “The western Ghats is a biological treasure trove that is endangered, and it needs to be protected and regenerated, indeed celebrated for its enormous wealth of endemic species and natural beauty.”
The message is imperative that State Governments, mankind and humanity in general protect, manage and regenerate the remaining lands in the Western Ghats as biologically rich, diverse with natural scapes spreading over 60000 sq kilometres over the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India appointed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by its Chairman Madhav Gadgil an environmentalist researcher in ecology and a former member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India to study the impact of deforestation in the Western Ghats, the illegal quarrying, the illegal occupation of forest lands, sand mining from rivers, the filling of paddy fields. The panel approached and compiled the project with readily available information about Western Ghats with development of Geo-spatial database based on environmental sensitivity in consultation with government bodies and groups of civil society and submitted its report to the MoEF Government of India on August 31, 2011.
The Madhav panel or WGEEP had recommended 64% of Western Ghats to be declared as ecologically sensitive area and regulatory measures for protection would be imposed. It had recommended the estate to be brought under Western Ghats Ecology Authority for management of the Ghats.
A section of the society in Kerala was highly critical of the report submitted by the Madhav Gadgil panel and hence the Centre appointed 10-member Working Group headed by Planning Commission member Kasturirangan with environmental experts and professionals as its members who maintained the Western Ghats is a biological treasure that is endangered but brought down the area to 37% as ecologically sensitive as against 64% of Gadgil panel. It is reported when the Centre did not approve of his panel’s report Madhav Gadgil had stated, Kerala in the long run will see devastation of unimaginable proportions. According to him there would be landslides in every hilly region, the rivers will flood since there is no sand in its bed and the riversides having illegal constructions, houses/buildings will come down like a pack of cards.
Gadgil’s words were prophetic and Kerala has seen devastation of a flourished civilisation and a part of culture as an most literate state of India has vanished in thin air with rains followed by gusty winds and floods ravaging the state and bringing down enormous buildings, water gushing through the houses and destroying everything in its path. But the most to suffer were humanity as hundreds of lives have been lost, people lost their livelihood, children along with elderly people were just washed away.
