Nurturing the Western Ghats: Towards a new paradigm

1. Nurturing the Western Ghats: Towards a new paradigm Madhav Gadgil 3rd June 2012 Pune

2. A major opportunity to demonstrate A major opportunity to demonstrate • Conservation and development can go hand in hand • Benefits of development can reach out to all segments of society • Local communities can guide the course of development • Conservation does not imply excluding people • Conservation and development can go hand in hand • Benefits of development can reach out to all segments of society • Local communities can guide the course of development • Conservation does not only mean excluding people

3. The Panel shall perform, the following functions: 1 • Demarcate areas within the Western Ghats Region which need to be notified as ecologically sensitive and to recommend for notification of such areas as ecologically sensitive zones under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. • Activities began without any spacific guidelines in 1989 with Murud- Janjira • Guidelines: MoEF. 2000. Report of the Pronab Sen Committee on identifying parameters for designating Ecologically Sensitive Areas in India

4. Sen Committee criteria Primary : Species based 1. Endemism 2. Rarity 3. Endangered species 4. Centers of evolution of domesticated species

5. Sen Cmt Primary Criteria • Ecosystem based 4. Wildlife Corridors 5. Specialized ecosystems 6.Special breeding site/area 7. Areas with intrinsically low resilience 8. Sacred groves 9. Frontier Forests

6. Sen Cmt Primary Criteria • Geo-morphological features based 10. Uninhabited Islands in the sea 11. Steep Slopes 12. Origins of Rivers

7. Entire Western Ghats region qualifies as ESA many times over on Sen Committee criteria • We must look further into levels of sensitivity to implement a graduated approach

8. Sen Committee’s recommended follow up • Establish a comprehensive programme for generating base-line data on different aspects relating to bio-geographical regions in India. • Systematically map and record such information on ecological characteristics. • Establish a comprehensive monitoring programme and network involving not only government agencies but also other institutions, universities, NGOs, and even individuals, particularly those living in and around these areas. • Undertake this in Mission mode. • There has been absolutely no follow up !

9. 9 Zonal Atlas for Siting of Industries • An exercise of creating a spatial database of pollution assimilation capacities and existing pollution loads to generate prescriptions for where additional industries generating different levels and kinds of pollution should be located • After investing substantial human resources and spending large amounts of funds, the completed database has been put in cold storage (or may be consigned to flames) at the insistence of a Secretary, Environment, so as not to inconvenience polluting industries I

10. WGEEP Activities undertaken • Panel meetings • Commissioned papers • Website • Brainstormings • Govt consultations • Public consultations • Field visits • Formulation of scientific methodology • Scientific publication • Database compilation and analysis

11. Ecological decision support system • Complementing ZASI exercise (unjustifiably suppressed) WGEEP has developed an objective ecological decision support system on the basis of systematic compilation of information on pertinent environmental parameters for WG region • Assigned 9 km x 9 km grids, and talukas to ESZ1, EZ2 and ESZ3 categories

15. 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

16. WGEEP Mandate -2Suggest measures for effective implementation of the notifications issued by the Government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests declaring specific areas in the Western Ghats Region as eco-sensitive zones under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

17. Very mixed reaction • People of Mahabaleshwar are happy that pace of tree cutting has reduced • Unhappy that violations by powerful interests are not being checked • In distress that regulation is converted into opportunities to extort- reportedly Rs 20,000 for permission to dig a well

18. Current paradigm • Development by exclusion, along with • Conservation by exclusion

19. 2001: Mahabaleshwar- Panchagani ESZ • 2002: IBWL recommended constitution of ESZ for a distance of 10 km around all PA’s • Mahabaleshwar- Bhimashankar tract is the northernmost stretch of evergreen forest on Western Ghats • It was imperative that the tract south of Bhimashankar WLS it be protected promptly • Yet, quite unjustifiably, no action has been taken so far, and a windmill project has been recently sanctioned 19

20. Report of the RFO, Chakan, Dec 2008 • An evergreen, biodiversity rich forest. Amongst the better preserved forests from Sahyadri ranges. • Lying adjacent to Bhimashankar WLS Sanctuary, has contributed substantially to maintenance of environmental balance.  Shelters several wildlife species. If this project is sanctioned, it will lead to destruction of evergreen forests, and adversely impact biodiversity, environment and wildlife habitats. It will also lead to serious irreparable damage to human livelihoods. • The project is likely to adversely impact the rare Giant Squirrel, wolves, jackal, hyena, peafowl, barking deer, panther and other wild animals. It will break the natural food chain and adversely affect medicinal plants and evergreen forest. • A number of rare medicinal plants grow in the project area, especially during the monsoon period. • The destruction of these natural forests would adversely impact habitats, breeding places and shelter of many birds and wildlife.

21. Report by CF(Teritoreal), Pune, Dec 2008 • Project area as such does not have any significant wildlife. • Least distance of the project area from the boundary of Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary is approx. 3.5 km. This is not likely to affect the PA as the key-species of Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary is Giant Squirrel which is restricted to the sanctuary area only. There is no contiguous forest area, vegetation joining the sanctuary. • “Bushy growth are more than trees” • Regrettably this is deliberate distortion of facts

22. Windmills in midst of thick primal evergreen- semi-evergreen forest

23. Renee Borges’s May 2011 photographs of Giant Squirrel nests near Vandre in project area

24. Landslides all over Damaging the fields

25. Conditions laid down by AIG(Forest) vide letter dt 10/12/09 • The free movement of the Local Villagers, if any, within and surrounding area will be ensured

26. Whole hillsides have been unjustifiably, and illegally taken over!

27. People feel totally alienated • Even WGEEP could access no information • Fortunately, people have accessed it thanks to RTI • One wonders • Is this why scientific research in forest areas is systematically blocked? Because there is so much false information being propagated?

28. Why have citizens not been empowered? • Why are no Biodiversity Management Committees to be established under B D Act 2002 in place? • Why have no rights – individual and community- been granted under the Forest Rights Act 2006? How could Forest Clearance be given before this was undertaken

29. 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.

30. Regional Plan for Ratnagiri and Sindhudrg Prescriptions emphasizing the natural endowments and strengths of these districts, and prescribing land use priorities.  These are being comprehensively violated in the current practices. Such decisions ought to be reviewed.

31. EIAs are seriously defective • Particularly  weak  in  the sections on biodiversity  and  socio-economic  issues.  • Dismiss as barren land, the ‘sada’s or the wind swept lateritic plateaus of Western Ghats with stunted tree growth. But these plateaus  are,  for  their  size, the country’s richest repository of endemic plants • Other important environmental resources that are ignored, such as bivalve production on tidal mudflats. A recent study in Aghanashini estuary of Uttara Kannada district just to the south of Goa has revealed that the annual value of this production was 5.6 crores of rupees.

32. EIAs ignore pertinent issues •  Transmission lines emanating from power projects have significant impacts on mango and cashew orchards, as well as forests on Western Ghats; such impacts are ignored. • Similarly transport of ore by trucks on roads and by barges on rivers and ships on sea all have significant environmental and social impacts that have never been considered.

33. 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.

34. Absence of any transparent, participatory process of environmental monitoring • Indeed, the absence of any transparent, participatory process of environmental monitoring is a burning issue. Ratnagiri district has been an epicenter of environment related agitations in recent years. During the meeting of WGEEP with Government of Maharashtra officials in Mumbai on 30th September, 2010, the issue of on-going programmes of involving the people in environmental monitoring in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg districts was discussed. The Government officials mentioned that this function was being performed by a Ratnagiri District Environment Committee chaired by the Ratnagiri District Collector, and additionally there was a very active ‘Lote Abhyas Gat’ attached to Lote MIDC. Following this WGEEP contacted Ratnagiri District Collector, as well as the Lote Abhyas Gat with the help of Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board. On 5th October 2010 WGEEP had a meeting with the Lote Abhyas Gat. During the meeting, it was reported that although the Lote Abhyas Gat was constituted in 2006, only two meetings have been held till October 2010, the last being in 2008. The Abhyas Gat had prepared some norms on effluent discharge, but these were not being followed. They had brought to notice disposal of toxic waste by some industries into ground water through bore wells, but no action was taken. Representatives from Kotavale, the worst hit village were not included in the Lote Abhyas Gat despite their request. Shri Sachin Ambre, Upsabhapati, Khed Panchayat Samiti, and a member of Lote Abhyas Gat insisted that the functioning of the Lote Abhyas Gat was thoroughly unsatisfactory. This was followed by a meeting at the office of the Ratnagiri District Collector on 7th October, 2010. Contrary to what WGEEP was informed by State level officials in Mumbai on 30th September, 2010, it turned out that while there was a proposal to constitute a Ratnagiri District Environment Committee, no such committee was in existence.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. Land related conflicts •   Huge conflicts have emerged in the context of acquisition of land for various industrial, power and mining projects. Land was acquired from farmers of Jaitapur area by invoking emergency provisions, leading to grave social discord. There are examples of people being misled and being forced to accept activities against their wishes. In Ratnagiri district PTIANA now plans to set up a coal-based power plant on land people sold on the understanding that it was being purchased to set up an ecotourism resort. Finolex is forcibly closing fishermen’s traditional access to fishing areas. Residents of Tamboli village in Sindhudurg district narrate that they suddenly discovered in 2006 that mining had been entered as ‘other rights’ on their land records without so much as informing them, although this can only be done with their full concurrence. They had to resort to prolonged agitation, including fast unto death in 2007 to have these illegal entries removed. We must clearly evolve systems of meaningful participation by people in deciding on the course of future economic development.

38. Failure to enforce laws • Social discontent is also fueled by failure to enforce laws such as pollution control. The Common Effluent Treatment Plant at the chemical industry estate at Lote in Ratnagiri district cannot handle the quantity of effluent it is receiving, and its functioning is highly defective. During a visit in October 2010, WGEEP saw large overflows of untreated effluent from the plant going into streams serving Kotavale village. Since the situation is not being brought under control, the Sarpanch of Kotavale attempted to commit suicide by drinking the polluted stream water. He was rushed to Mumbai and saved, but there has been no abatement of pollution affecting Kotavale. Also, in 2000, around 30 School children near Lote MIDC became unconscious due to inhalation of poisonous gases. The company involved took no notice, and did not come forward to take children to the hospital.  People also reported that solid toxic sludge from industries was mixed with soil and dumped in the ghat area. Very recently, some party has dumped toxic wastes via a tanker in the Boraj Dam which is the water supply of Khed town. The town water supply had to be stopped for several weeks, but nobody has been brought to book. There has been significant decline in fish landings from Dabhol creek due to Lote chemical pollution, and severe loss of employment opportunities for members of fishing communities.

39. Suppressing civil liberties • With all these problems persisting all that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has done seems to be to transfer the Lote office to far off Chiplun, rendering any chances of effective action even more remote than before. While promises to stop pollution go unfulfilled, protests and demonstrations are routinely suppressed by invoking Bombay Police Act 1951 Sec, 37(1)(3) prohibiting gatherings of people. Over 2008-09, such orders were promulgated in Ratnagiri district for no less than 191 days. With all these persistent and unrectified problems, we were informed by an MIDC officer that they are planning to set up new Petro- Chemical complex nearby existing MIDC area on 550Ha. Obviously, we must evolve systems of meaningful participation by people in deciding on the course of future economic development to ensure that development genuinely benefits the society at large, and is not hijacked merely to serve particular vested interests.

40. 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.

41. Forest Rights Act • An important act empowering people in hilly, forested tracts like Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg- Goa is the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Rights over Forests) Act (FRA), 2006. Regrettably, the current state of implementation of FRA everywhere including in Maharashtra is characterized by a series of serious problems, as set out in great detail in the just completed report of the Saxena Committee set up jointly by MoEF and MoTA. 

42. Assessing cumulative impacts • All the exercises of Environmental Impact Assessment undertaken so far have the serious limitation that they look at various interventions one at a time, ignoring the cumulative impacts. For example, air pollutant emissions from a coal based power plant may be acceptable when looked at individually. But, in certain seasons, emissions from several such power plants may accumulate in some particular basin in a hilly region and considerably exceed the threshold for tolerance. Similarly, ore transport trucks from a single mine may be accommodated on the road without excessive traffic congestion, but those from five mines may exceed the carrying capacity of the roads and lead to intolerable levels of congestion and road accidents. Another key factor that is generally ignored is the continuity of habitats so essential for maintenance of several elements of biodiversity. Again the cumulative effects may be totally unacceptable, although individual impacts may be acceptable. For many such reasons it is essential to look at the cumulative impacts of various industrial, mining, power generation and other activities in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, and the adjoining state of Goa.

43. Let us turn a new leaf!

44. Western Ghats may serve as a laboratory for fashioning development programmes compatible with nature conservation and social justice AmartyaSen’s definition of “Development” • Process of expanding real freedoms that people enjoy • Access to – • Adequate Food, Clean water, Unpolluted Air, Shelter, Education, Health Care, and Gainful Employment. • Above all development should lead to an enhanced capacity to engage in social, political, and economic decision making.

45. People dread ESZs • Kolhapur ZP’s formal resolution of October 2010 • Many petitions that restrictions such as “no artificial lights” proposed by FD would only result in harassment and extortion

46. People also welcome ESZ • Number of NGO proposals • Notably, 25 gram sabhas in a cluster of villages in Sindhudurg district have requested for declaring their villages as Ecologically Sensitive Areas

47. Ecologically Sensitive Area : Talkat, Dodamarg, Sindhudurg - 1 • It is necessary to consider following things for conservation of forest, and development of the village: • Watershed development programme : • Though we have perennial streams as a water source for village, it is important to plan methods for efficient use of these resources. In summer orchards do not get enough water due to lack of planning. It is possible to build Nala bunds and small dams for water storage. Government officials have done preliminary observation and background work in the village. That’s why it is very important to give priority for watershed development. Each Wadi in village is need of this. • Perennial streams are present in Western Ghats ridges in the village. It is possible to build mini hydel projects for power generation on these streams. There is need to study this possibility.

48. Ecologically Sensitive Area : Talkat, Dodamarg, Sindhudurg - 2 • It is needed to improve present condition of Cashewnut and arecanut orchards. In the area where forest and enough water sources for horticulture are not present, we can develop agroforestry dependent on rainwater. We require training and funds from government for this. • At present we don’t have nursery of plants. We can develop one indigenous plant nursery for above mentioned agroforestry. Some self help groups will get income from this. • Village tourism: Traditional houses, orchards and greenery in our village attract tourists. Our people from Mumbai (whose native place is Talkat) come here along with their city friends. There is scope to develop village as a tourist place.

49. Ecologically Sensitive Area : Talkat, Dodamarg, Sindhudurg - 3 • Human- Wild life conflict- Location of Talkat village is near to forest. Orchards are surrounded by forest. The forest area in the village is blessed with rich wildlife as it is a part of forest between Amboli-Tillari. We are living with this wildlife since years. But these days we are facing nuisance from monkey, sambar, elephant and leopard. While preparing development plan we have to consider this issue. We do like to live with wildlife. • This is what we think. Government and villagers should work on development plan of Ecologically Sensitive Area. We are ready to do it. Because projects like mining are hazardous for our life as well as it will destroy our income source. Instead of such projects we would like to have our village in Ecologically Sensitive area.

50. 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.