Discussion Forum
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Protecting Western Ghats
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India is one of the countries blessed with rich biodiversity. Western Ghats & Eastern Himalayas rank in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the World. Such biodiverse regions need to be protected & regulated in a manner to conserve its uniqueness. In view of this, MoEF had constituted the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) in March 2010 for the conservation, protection and rejuvenation of the Western Ghats Region. MoEF has recently published the report made by WGEEP on its website for receiving comments / suggestions from public.
We have published Newsletter to understand the said report particularly with reference to Maharashtra. “Public Participation” is the appropriate way to finally decide what to do and what not. So we request to communicate your views and let’s discuss this important issue through this forum.
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Comments received so far :
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Name of the Person
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Comment
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Srinivasan.S
(03/07/2012) |
It is very informative and well compiled report.
What about pipelines and High Tension powerlines which will have to cut across these Ghat sections. There is no mention if the same will be allowed and what are the restrictions as the same are quite essential means of transporting OIL/GAS/POWER from one state to other and considering that there is no chance of routing them without cutting across through these region, there should be a strategy for approval.
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Archana
(04/07/2012) |
There is good news for all environment or nature lovers, India's 1600-km long Western Ghats mountain chain, which has forests older than the Himalaya mountains, has been added to the list of world heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The Western ghats runs through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The forests are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile, and fish species.
A cluster of 39 sites spread over 7,953.15 sq km in the Western Ghats is now in the World Heritage list. Kerala leads with 20 sites being inscribed in the heritage list followed by Karnataka with ten, Tamil Nadu five and Maharashtra four. In Maharashtra, the Kas plateau, the Koyna wildlife sanctuary, the Chandoli national park and the Radhanagari Wildlife sanctuary in the Sahyadri range have been given the world heritage site tag. All these sites are tiger reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries or reserved forests i.e. Protected Areas.
It is possible that there will not be any fresh restrictions on activities that are currently permitted in these 39 sites as they are already governed by the present set of legal framework. But yes, there is lot of other issues like Srinivasan sir rose, inter- State Pipelines etc. need to be addressed properly. Due to Western Ghats’ new status (World Heritage Site) & the world’s attention, clearance for new industrial development may become little harder but it will definitely support the Conservation activities & Sustainable development projects. To achieve Sustainable Development, management of these clusters is definitely a challenge which needs to be taken with right spirit…
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Santosh Visal
(07/08/2012) |
Dear Sir/Madam,
Protecting Western Ghats can be done in following ways:
- Eliminate all industrial estates on the west side of the Sahyadri Range. Including all industries in Mumbai and nearby region like Thane, Raigad etc.
- Enforce no further cutting of trees.
- Enforce no further construction of houses. Eliminate all houses which are built from concrete. (Including in Mumbai, Goa Karnataka and Kerala cities)
- Eliminate use of Tar and Cement for Roads and houses. Use any other natural methods. Do research.
- Burn all waste, plastics etc. Burn all unnatural things.
- Eliminate all stay places and main cities in western ghats.
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