Kasturirangan panel visits Wayanad

KOZHIKODE/KOTTAYAM: The Kasturirangan committee appointed by the Centre to review the Western Ghats Expert Ecology Panel (WGEEP) report held a sitting at the district collectorate at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Monday. The WGEEP report was submitted by a committee headed by Madhav Gadgil.

K Kasturirangan, also a planning commission member, said the committee, in its recommendations, would try to strike a balance between the twin objectives of protecting the Western Ghats eco system and addressing the developmental needs and social issues faced by the people in the area.

"The report will obviously make sure that we take into account the ground realities of the Western Ghats system.

Our report will reflect those realities on the ground even as we look at how best we conserve and preserve the ecosystem," he said.

Kasturirangan said that protecting the Western Ghats was of critical importance for the biological diversity of the country. "It would be a catastrophe if the Western Ghats ecosystem, considered one of the eight global hotspots of biodiversity, is damaged. So, conserving the landscape and ecosystem is of great importance.

But at the same time we will take into consideration the ground realities of the people living in the area while making recommendations," he said.

Kasturirangan added that the recommendations of the panel would be submitted within a week. The panel had visited Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra before coming to Kerala.

People who attended the sitting were unanimous in their opinion that the implementation of the Gadgil committee report should not impair the right to life of nine lakh people in the district.

They said that restrictions on construction of new roads and rail lines would affect the connectivity of the district. Apprehensions regarding proposed restrictions on mining and suggestions for discouraging cultivation of annual crops on slopes exceeding 30% were raised at the sitting.

Member of the working group, Darshan Shankar, minister for welfare of scheduled tribes P K Jayalakshmi, state environment department principal secretary James Varghese, M I Shanavas MP among others were present at the sitting.

Meanwhile, the cancellation of Kasturirangan's visit to Idukki led to wide-spread protests in the district on Monday. The district administration was informed that the trip was called off as the chopper carrying Kasturirangan had to return to Kochi due to bad weather. Hearing the news, the residents and political leaders who were waiting at Cheruthony to interact with Kasturirangan organized a protest and threatened to stage a hartal. Following this, the commission agreed to visit Idukki by road on Tuesday morning.

It was only two days back that the district administration was informed about the visit. Kasturirangan was to each Cheruthony by a chopper at 8.20am and hold discussions with the public till noon.

Hundreds of people turned up at the collectorate in the morning. Minister P J Joseph, P T Thomas MP and MLAs S Rajendran MLA and E S Bijimol waited at the Government Guest House to receive the commission while a team of revenue officials lead by collector T Bhaskaran waited at the Police Parade Grounds.