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MoEF begrudgingly puts up report on Western Ghats
Licking its own wounds, the Environment Ministry had to finally put up the controversial report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) on its website, albeit with a disclaimer.
The disclaimer reads: “The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report has not been formally accepted by the Ministry. The report is still being analysed and considered by the Ministry”.
The statement on the MoEF website, issued by the deputy director of the research and development division of the Ministry, has also called for comments and views on the report from stakeholders within 45 days.
The move of MoEF comes in the wake of the recent judgment by the Delhi High Court rejecting the Ministry’s plea that the court set aside an earlier order of the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) asking it to put the report in the public domain. The MoEF had constituted the WGEEP on March 4, 2010 under the chairmanship of Prof Madhav Gadgil to look into the ecological status of the biodiversity hotspot. The mandate of the panel was to suggest measures to protect the Ghats that submitted its report to the ministry on August 31, 2011.
Thereafter, for reasons not known, the much sought after document was gathering dust till April 9 when the Chief Information Commission responding to a complaint under Right to Information (RTI), asked the Ministry to place the report in the public domain. The MoEF approached the high court for a stay, but had to finally accede when the court concurred with the observations of the CIC. This order was challenged in the Delhi high court, which dismissed the Ministry’s plea and ordered the report to be made public. Sources added in this context that while the government is under no obligation to accept the recommendations chalked out by Dr Madhav Gadgil led 14-member panel in its 500-page report, it was reportedly under pressure from the six State Governments.
Licking its own wounds, the Environment Ministry had to finally put up the controversial report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) on its website, albeit with a disclaimer.
The disclaimer reads: “The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report has not been formally accepted by the Ministry. The report is still being analysed and considered by the Ministry”.
The statement on the MoEF website, issued by the deputy director of the research and development division of the Ministry, has also called for comments and views on the report from stakeholders within 45 days.
The move of MoEF comes in the wake of the recent judgment by the Delhi High Court rejecting the Ministry’s plea that the court set aside an earlier order of the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) asking it to put the report in the public domain. The MoEF had constituted the WGEEP on March 4, 2010 under the chairmanship of Prof Madhav Gadgil to look into the ecological status of the biodiversity hotspot. The mandate of the panel was to suggest measures to protect the Ghats that submitted its report to the ministry on August 31, 2011.
Thereafter, for reasons not known, the much sought after document was gathering dust till April 9 when the Chief Information Commission responding to a complaint under Right to Information (RTI), asked the Ministry to place the report in the public domain. The MoEF approached the high court for a stay, but had to finally accede when the court concurred with the observations of the CIC. This order was challenged in the Delhi high court, which dismissed the Ministry’s plea and ordered the report to be made public. Sources added in this context that while the government is under no obligation to accept the recommendations chalked out by Dr Madhav Gadgil led 14-member panel in its 500-page report, it was reportedly under pressure from the six State Governments.
