Bangalore: Comparing Western Ghats to the character of Draupadi in Mahabharata, Ecologist Madhav Gadgil on Wednesday said the inappropriate government policies are stripping the Western Ghats of all their resources. He was speaking at Bio Diversity Asia 2012, a gathering of ecologists from around the world. The Dushyasana here is bad governance. There is no Krishna to save the Western Ghats. It is just wasteful consumption in order to show off, Gadgil said.
Lashing out at the skewed government policies which permitted setting up of a windmill at Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary area in Maharastra, Gadgil pointed out that the initial report of the Range Forest Officer, which recommended the area to be declared an ecologically sensitive zone was overruled by his superior. Gadgil accused the forest officer of submitting a false report to permit the windmill project. The CF (Territorial) completely falsified his report by stating there was no wildlife and only bushy growth in the area, he said while showing pictures to prove his point.
Gadgil also stated that the economic reforms seeking the entry of Foreign Direct Investment into the country would result in major environmental degradation. This kind of development is unsustainable. We cannot compete with China, their exports are more than their imports while our case is just the opposite. We are trying to compete by inviting FDI which will result in environmental degradation and take away our policy making abilities, he said.
Speaking on the sidelines after the lecture, Gadgil said that
01:28 PM, Aug 09, 2012
