Summary report - Maharashtra government consultation on Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts - MoEF

Content Courtesy: Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India

Author: Madhav Gadgil

In view of the environmental sensitivity and ecological significance of the Western Ghats region and the complex nature of its geography, as well as the possible impacts of climate change on this region, the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India constituted a Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to assess the current status of ecology of the Western Ghats region. The panel aimed at identifying ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghat region and making recommendations for the conservation, protection and rejuvenation of the region. This report presents a brief summary of the key issues that were dwelt on to understand the situation of the Western ghats and the key findings of the evaluation.
The panel dwelt on the following key issues:
• Is the environment being effectively protected?
• Are environmental costs acceptable?
• Are transfers of environmental costs (Inter-sectoral, Inter-regional, Inter-class,
Inter-generational) acceptable?
• Are people being involved in good management of the environment?
• Are people being involved in deciding upon an appropriate development path?
• Are development policies leading to sustainable development?
• Are decision-makers at centres of power aware of what is happening on the ground?
• Are people’s civil rights being respected?

The evaluation found that there was little enforcement of environmental protection laws including pollution control. There was a need to look at the environmental costs and benefits amongst different economic, social, regional and intergenerational segments of the society. The developmental  policies in the region seemed to be headed in an environmentally and socially non-sustainable direction. The decision-makers at centres of power were simply not aware of what was happening at the ground level. Not only were people left out from the process of development, but even their civil rights of freedom of expression were being systematically suppressed.

The entire report can be downloaded from here.