Saving the Western Ghats

Commission a report and when it is ready, place it on a high shelf so that no one can reach it or read it. This seems to be the time-worn norm followed by successive governments in this country. So it comes as no surprise that after having asked the distinguished scientist Madhav Gadgil to head a committee to evaluate the ecological sensitivity of what is one of the world’s important biodiversity hotspots, the Western Ghats, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (EF) has received the final report without “accepting it”.