Recalling Madhav Gadgil’s seminal Western Ghats report, and opposition to it

In March 2010, the WGEEP was constituted in view of the region’s environmental sensitivity and ecological significance, its complex geography, and the threat of climate change.

In a 2014 article in the Economic and Political Weekly, Gadgil had noted that the trigger for the panel was a meeting of the Save Western Ghats movement in the Nilgiris in 2010. “Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh attended it and participated in the deliberations, which culminated in setting up of the WGEEP,” Gadgil wrote.

The official mandate from the Union Environment and Forest Ministry was to assess the Ghats’ ecology, demarcate its ecologically sensitive areas, and recommend ecologically sensitive zones. It was also tasked with recommendations on conservation and rejuvenation, including devising modalities for a managerial authority for sustainable development.

What Gadgil panel recommended

After Gadgil led extensive consultations on the ground with communities and public representatives, the panel designated the entire 1,29,037 sq km extent of Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). It assigned three levels of sensitivity for various zones, categorising them as Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

Extensive guidelines were accordingly proposed for each sector. These included a prohibition on cultivating genetically modified crops across zones, and the creation of special economic zones or new hill stations. The panel said no new mining licenses were to be issued, and called for phasing out existing mines within five years in ESZs 1 and 2. ESZ 1 would not have new licenses issued for quarries. It further proposed no new railway lines and major roads, except where highly essential in ESZ 1 and 2.

It also recommended the creation of a 24-member Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA), a statutory authority appointed by the Environment Ministry under the Environment Protection Act, to oversee the protection of the ESZs. This authority was envisaged as an apex, multi-state authority for regulation, management and planning of activities impacting all ESZs in the six Western Ghats states — Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

It was proposed that the authority would comprise domain experts, resource experts and members from nodal ministries.

Political opposition to Gadgil panel report

The initial report was submitted to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in March 2011, and a final version was submitted in August 2011. Gadgil noted in EPW that under Jayanthi Natarajan, who succeeded Ramesh in July 2011, the report was not made public, but was subsequently circulated to the state governments to seek comments.

Gadgil wrote that the report itself made a case for inclusionary development, and they suggested taking it to all Gram Sabhas (village bodies comprising all adult residents), to replace “exclusionary development and conservation.”

At the time, environmentalists opposed the government’s decision to withhold the report from the public domain, and made requests under the Right to Information Act. After appeals, the Chief Information Commissioner ordered that it be made public in April 2012. However, this was appealed in the Delhi High Court by the Environment Ministry, which eventually ordered that the report be made publicly available in May 2012.

The report was strongly opposed, especially by the governments of Kerala and Maharashtra. Maharashtra took issue with the recommendation to form an overarching authority, arguing that it would run parallel to existing government agencies. Several states also opposed the embargo on new hydroelectric projects.

Kerala opposed the report by stating that the economy of Idukki and Wayanad districts would be affected if large tracts were demarcated as ESA, as these areas were home to cash crops. Kerala’s then Finance Minister, KM Mani, said that agriculture and human activities would become impossible. The Catholic Church in Kerala also echoed claims of economic dispossession.

Kasturirangan panel

Following the opposition to the report, the Environment Ministry constituted a High-Level Working Group (HLWG) under the space scientist K Kasturirangan. Its mandate was to “examine the WGEEP report in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion”.

Subsequently, the HLWG report of 2013 proposed to demarcate 56,825 sq km of the Ghats region as ecologically sensitive. Like the Gadgil panel, it also called for restrictions on polluting industries, mining, new thermal power plants, and large townships in the ESAs. Unlike the previous panel, the Kasturirangan panel identified some villages as ESAs and published a list of such villages across states.

Based on these recommendations, the Centre has issued the draft notifications demarcating the ESAs six times so far (the last iteration being in August 2024). The Centre and the states are yet to reach a consensus with the stakeholder states over the areas that should fall under the category. The notification still hangs in the balance, and an expert committee under former Director General of Forests, Sanjay Kumar, is working with states to finalise the matter.