Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil was named one of the six ‘Champions of the Earth’ for 2024 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) last week. The annual award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, recognises individuals and organisations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment. In a statement, UNEP said, “His [Gadgil’s] research has helped to protect marginalised people, promote the community-driven conservation of ecosystems, from forests to wetlands, and influence policymaking at the highest level.” To mark this honour, The Indian Express spoke to Gadgil, who discussed a wide range of topics, including the ecological crisis in India, climate change, and misconceptions about his famous 2011 report on the Western Ghats. Here are the edited excerpts from the interview. In the introduction of your 1995 book, ‘Ecology and Equity: The Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India’, you and Ramchandra Guha wrote about the ecological crisis unfolding in the country. Since then, the situation has only exacerbated. Why have successive governments failed to tackle the crisis? That is because the situation in the country is such that a small number of people with vested interests gain a lot at the cost of nature and those who live close to nature. Take the example of the Meppadi [in Wayanad, Kerala] landslide disaster [that took place in July 2024]. Meppadi is located on a very steep slope, one of the higher points in the Western Ghats, but there are several rock quarries in its vicinity. Due to this, the region has become prone to landslides. Most of these quarries are illegal and do not have adequate permission from the local district collectors. My friends in Kerala have told me that a large number of the quarries are owned by members of political parties, including the BJP, CPI (M), and Congress, who make a lot of money. Moreover, these tea estate owners and their friends own resorts in the area and are building lakes there, further increasing the pressure on the land and making it more vulnerable to landslides. These people live in comfort and share their money with those in power and politicians from all parties. That is why there is no action against such activities. And when a disaster like the Meppadi landslide takes place, it is the poor, including tea-estate labourers, who suffer. They do not get enough wages and have to live in huts in areas which are not suitable for human habitation. As climate change worsens, we witness more frequent and intense extreme weather events. More often than not, society's most marginalised people are the worst affected by such events. In the following years, the situation is expected to get even worse. Is India doing enough to protect its marginalised people? If not, what can be done? A great deal needs to be done to protect people from extreme weather events. For instance, we need to tackle India’s aerosol levels which are the highest globally. Rock quarries have machines that convert the rock into man-made sand. In that process, a huge amount of dust is released and added to the aerosol load. Another contributing factor is automobile exhaust. With an increase in the number of vehicles and traffic jams in cities, more aerosol is getting added to the atmosphere. This is an issue because studies in China and Israel have shown that high levels of aerosols lead to intense rain in a short period, creating floods. In recent years, we have witnessed numerous instances of extremely heavy rain in the country, which have been responsible for a lot of damage. Therefore, to tackle climate change and its impact, we will have to address activities such as rock quarries and traffic congestion. But that will not be easy because quarries and selling vehicles are huge sources of money. Hopefully, in the future, people at the ground level and marginalised communities will organise and make their voices heard to change the situation. India is currently at this crossroads where it is expanding its coal production to meet its growing energy demands but the global carbon budget for staying under the 1.5 degree target is almost over. What do you think about India’s stand? The idea that coal is essential for economic development needs to be examined, especially when alternative sources such as solar energy are rapidly becoming more competitive. However, we are not doing enough to promote such sources and reduce coal burning. Recently, there was a huge agitation against turning Goa’s Mormugao Port in Vasco da Gama into a coal harbour for three of India’s super-rich — Adanis, Ambanis, and Agarwals of the Vedanta group. We are not only producing more coal but also importing it. To utilise this coal, there are plans to destroy the forests of Goa and the Mollem National Park, where the government has subsidised the construction of railway lines for the super-rich. The forest department is also corrupt. They are happy cutting down the trees and lining their pockets. The people of Goa are unhappy about this and the burning of coal. But they are unable to make their voices heard. You have publicly discussed the misconceptions regarding your famous 2011 report on the Western Ghats. For instance, people often argue that the recommendations of the report cannot be implemented as it had suggested declaring 75 per cent of the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive. Can you please elaborate on that? I persuaded my fellow panel members that declaring 75 per cent of the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive was not reasonable. There must be three levels of ecologically sensitive areas. In high-sensitivity areas, like the Meppadi region, there should not be any more high-rise constructions, rock quarrying, etc. Local Gram Sabhas need to be involved in decision-making and we should hope they will agree to such controls. In moderate sensitivity areas, certain activities should be permitted. This should also be done with consultation from locals. The approach for making decisions has to be bottom-up, and not vice versa. In low-sensitivity areas, rock quarrying can be allowed with suggestions from well-organised community groups such as Kerala’s Kudumbashree [a community network and poverty eradication programme that aims to empower women]. These groups should be given the contract for rock quarries and asked to manage them. In this way, the report's recommendations will not threaten the livelihoods of local communities. People who say otherwise are just doing propaganda and want others to oppose the report. In a country as populous as India, wouldn’t the development process necessarily involve some degree of environmental degradation? We need to think about economic growth as the growth of four main components — natural capital, human capital, social capital, and man-made capital. We cannot just focus on man-made capital, which includes mining and polluting industries for economic growth. That is because man-made capital, in the long term, adversely impacts natural capital and human capital. It severely affects the environment and creates unemployment by destroying agriculture, etc. Therefore, we need to revise our outlook on economic growth and consider these four capitals together. If we proceed this way, I am quite sure that we can pursue a path which will lead to overall development.
