Gadgil Commission
Gadgil Commission Report
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| Abbreviation | WGEEP |
|---|---|
| Successor | Kasthurirangan Commission |
| Location |
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Region served
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Western Ghats |
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Chairman
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Madhav Gadgil |
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Commission after its chairman Madhav Gadgil, was an environmental research commission appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. The commission submitted the report to the Government of India on 31 August 2011. The Expert Panel approached the project through a set of tasks such as:
People in Kerala,especially Christian organizations strongly protests the implementation of the report since most of the farmers in the hilly regions are Christians, especially in Wayanad. During the 20th century, a very large number of Christians had migrated from southern Kerala and acquired forest land in Wayanad and other areas with abundant forest and waste land, in what is known as Malabar Migration. The Gagdil Committee report was criticised for being excessively environment-friendly and not in tune with the ground realities.
The report was considered by UNESCO, which added the 39 serial sites of the Western Ghats on the World Heritage List.
The Kasturirangan committee report has sought to balance the two concerns of development and environment protection, by watering down the environmental regulation regime proposed by the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel’s Gadgil report in 2012. The Kasturirangan report seeks to bring just 37% of the Western Ghats under the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) zones — down from the 64% suggested by the Gadgil report. Dr. V.S. Vijayan, member of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) said recommendations of the Kasturirangan report are undemocratic and anti-environmental.
A crucial report on Western Ghats prepared by K. Kasturirangan-led high-level working group (HLWG) has recommended prohibition on development activities in 60,000 km2 ecologically sensitive area spread over Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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