Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A major opportunity
A major opportunity to to
demonstrate
demonstrate
• Conservation and development can go
Conservation and
hand in hand
development
• can go hand in
Benefits of development can reach out to
all segments of society
•
hand
Local communities can guide the course
Benefits of development can
of development
• Conservation does not only mean
reach out to all segments of
excluding people
society
Local communities can guide
the course of development
Conservation does not imply
excluding people 2
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Delineation of ESZs
• WGEEP has proposed provisional
delineation of ESZs at 81km 2 grid and
taluka level
• These should be assessed and fine-tuned
– considering village, town and watershed
boundaries- by people, going right down to
level of gram sabhas/ ward sabhas on
Kerala and Goa RPG2021 models
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WGEEP Mandate -2
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Current paradigm
• Development by exclusion, along
with
• Conservation by exclusion
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WINDMILLS IN MIDST OF
THICK PRIMAL
EVERGREEN- SEMI-
EVERGREEN FOREST
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Deficit in environmental
governance
• WGEEP’s extensive field visits and consultations
with Government officials, industry
representatives, elected officials of Panchayat
Raj institutions, state legislature and members of
parliament, scientific and technical experts, as
well as citizen groups representing farmers,
herders, fisherfolk, artisans, industrial and farm
labourers all point to a grave deficit in
environmental governance.
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Public Hearings
• Often simply ignored, leading to high levels of social frustration and discord.
For instance, in Kalane village in Sindhudurg, the first Public hearing
relating to the mine was held on 20-9-2008. At this time, the Marathi EIA
was not available and therefore the hearing was postponed. The public
hearing was once again held on 11-10-2008, after Marathi EIA was made
available. At this hearing, the unanimous resolution of Gram Panchayat
dated 6-8-2008 opposing mining was submitted and several objections were
raised: 1] Pollution of Kalane river and adverse impact on water supply
scheme on this river at Chandel in Goa. 2] Adverse impact on horticulture
dependent on natural water sources in Kalane. The villagers were not
provided summary minutes during the public hearing. These summary
minutes were made available only after 57 days. Despite the unanimous
rejection of mining proposal, Government of Maharashtra has gone ahead
and accorded Environmental Clearance to the mine on 17th March 2009.
Furthermore, in the absence of any transparent, participatory monitoring
process, the conditions imposed while according Environmental Clearance
are routinely violated.
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Biological Diversity
Management Committees
• India’s Biological Diversity Act, 2002 provides
for establishment of Biological Diversity Management
Committees (BMC) involving local community members
at Gram, Taluka, Zill Panchayat, as well as at Municipal
levels. These BMCs have the responsibility of
documenting local biodiversity resources, and the
authority to regulate their harvests, and levy collection
charges for permitted uses. Such BMCs could provide a
meaningful public forum and play a significant role in
local level environmental management and monitoring.
The BMCs must be immediately activated at all levels,
before taking any further decisions.
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Development or confiscation?
• The on-going and proposed mining, industrial and power project
activities are in serious conflict with the traditional economic sectors
of agriculture, horticulture and fisheries, and the newer
tourism sector on which lives of a large majority of people of
Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg depend. For instance, mangoes are
exported in substantial quantities from this region. Recently, the
doors of the global export market for the Alphanso Mango have
opened through Global GAP certification. These global standards
demand that there be no seriously air polluting industries, including
coal based power plants in their vicinity. If these come up, and even
if it turns out that pollution, such as from thermal power plants, does
not harm the orchards, the inevitable loss of export market is bound
to hit the horticulture hard. Given this very significant social conflict it
is vital that people be fully taken on board in deciding on the course
of future economic development.
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Democratic devolution
• While the 73rd and 74th amendments to the
Indian constitution have attempted to empower
people at the grass-roots, this is not being
translated into practice. For instance, several
Gram Panchayats, and Panchayat Samitis,
including Ratnagiri Taluka Panchayat Samiti
have specifically passed resolutions relating to
environmental issues that are being completely
ignored by state government. We must clearly
move towards making grass-roots
empowerment of people a reality.
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•Let us turn a
new leaf!
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WGEEP mandate - 3
• To make recommendations for the
conservation, protection and rejuvenation
of the Western Ghats Region following a
comprehensive consultation process
involving people and Governments of all
the concerned States.
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Sectoral guidelines
• WGEEP has proposed guidelines for
regulatory as well as promotional activities
in different sectors
• These should be assessed and fine-tuned
by people, going right down to level of
gram sabhas/ ward sabhas on Kerala and
Goa RPG2021 models
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WGEEP mandate - 4
• To recommend the modalities for the
establishment of Western Ghats Ecology
Authority under the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986 which will be a
professional body to manage the ecology
of the region and to ensure its sustainable
development with the support of all
concerned states.
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Next steps
• People should ask for serious efforts at
safeguarding precious natural heritage of
Western Ghats
• In particular, promote a people-oriented
democratic process of decision-making
using WGEEP report, made available in all
state languages, to provide a basis for
informed decision making
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