Will react if my report is ignored: Gadgil

December 19, 2013 11:08 am | Updated November 16, 2021 06:10 pm IST - KANNUR Chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel Madhav Gadgil has said that he and other panel members will not keep quiet if the government decides to discard the panel’s report in the wake of propaganda against it. Speaking at a debate on the Gadgil report organised by the Jilla Paristhithi Samithi and the Western Ghats Protection Committee here on Wednesday, Prof. Gadgil said that the major thrust of the report of the panel headed by him was a critique of the way development and conservation were forced on people without their consent. Referring to the major differences between the Gadgil report and the Kasturirangan report, Prof. Gadgil said that while the former meticulously followed the mandate given to it and made recommendations that considered conservation of both land and water resource in totality, the latter speaks only of protecting areas of natural landscape. The Gadgil panel he headed wanted people’s aspirations on conservation and development to be taken on board, while the Kasturirangan report questions the ability of the local community to take decisions on conservation issues, Prof. Gadgil said.