Gadgil rejects Kerala's concerns over Western Ghats report

The Western Ghats Ecological Experts Panel (WGEE) had held deliberations with various stakeholders including the state agencies, NGOs, politicians and local communities in the states concerned, Gadgil told reporters here.

"We could not have discussion with everyone in the Western Ghats region which spreads from Gujarat to Kerala. But we had discussions with Parliament members. To the extent possible, we did discuss the issues at the grass root level also," he said.

Gadgil's assertion assumes significance since Kerala Government and Catholic Church have raised serious objections to the panel recommendations holding that their implementation would lead to large scale displacement of people and affect the development process in most part of the state.

Voicing strong reservation against the proposed Athirappilly hydro-electric project in Thrissur district in Kerala, he said the project was conceived and worked out without taking environmental impact into proper account.

The dam was designed "unjustifiably" without following proper environment impact assessment norms. The implementation of the project would gravely affect down-stream irrigation, streams, riverine forests and rare biodiversity in the region, he said.

"As per the information we received, there is not much water at Athirappilly to generate power. Downstream irrigation and streams would be adversely affected. The region has one of the few low elevation riverine forests and this would also be affected with the coming up of the dam," he said.

Though WGEPP had demanded a public hearing on the issue citing these reasons, the authorities concerned did not respond to it which proved all these arguments were true, Gadgil said, speaking on the sidelines of the three-day "International Law Conference on Conservation of Forests, Widlife and Ecology", which began at Kerala Law Academy here. More