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India has made definite strides in development and economic growth since independence. If GDP is any indicator, this growth is enviable; with a rise from 3% GDP in 1950 to 9% in 2009. The declared ambition of the government is to make this 10.5% by the end of 12th Plan.

The largest majority of Indians, however, see a different nation, one in which 35% of Indians are below the poverty line; 49% do not have toilets (they defecate in the open); 21 lakhs children below five years die every year out of diarrhoea, typhoid, malaria, measles and pneumonia; 1000 children die every year out of diarrhoea alone; 426 lakhs people live in slums; 276 lakhs do not have a house to dwell in; and where farmers commit suicide due to debt–traps–as many as 2,16,500 committed suicide from 1997 to 2009.

The type of economic policy and the development path that has been followed, with disregard for environmental, ecological and social cost have left indubitable impacts on our natural resources, environment and human health.

A group of concerned organisaitons and citizens in Kerala (comprising the Kerala Paristhithi Aikya Vedi) got together to opt for a different development paradigm; a paradigm that ensures economic growth revolving around social, environmental, ecological, secular and democratic systems. The primary focus of this is on ensuring all citizens clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean food, a house to dwell in, hygienic living surroundings, basic free medical facilities and education facilities. To meet these basic requirements a Green Agenda for Kerala is proposed as a publication.

At this stage we have a draft that contains enough solutions for the many environmental issues. A final document will be prepared after a series of discussions with various stakeholders and experts. We aim to engage with the political parties both in the government and in opposition within Kerala, with the aim of getting them to integrate these basic requirements into their agendas for the benefit of generations to come.

The initial meeting was held between 2-3 September 2012, and 17 sectors were discussed. These included Information Technology, Land Use, Water Use, Forest Policy, Roads and Transport, Waste management, Housing, Quarrying and Mining, Tourism, Transport and Marine Ecosystems, among others.

More details can be found here. LINK

OTHER RESOURCES
1. Guidelines for Green Development of Kerala. Draft.
2. Keralathinu Oru Haritha Vikasana Marga Rekha. Draft.

Salim Ali Foundation is a part of the Chalakudy River Protection Forum and partners with Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samiti (CPSS) for the conservation of Athirapilly forests and the Chalakudy River.

Below are excerpts from a document prepared by CPSS

CHALAKUDY RIVER BASIN

The 130 km long Chalakudy River, the fifth largest river in Kerala, drains the runoff from a 1704 sq.km catchment of which 1200 sq.km catchment area in Kerala is under the control of the Forest Department. Chalakudy River is unique in its rich fish diversity; at least 104 fish species have been located from this river. The National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources based in Lucknow (NBFGR) has recommended the upstream areas of the river to be declared as a ‘fish sanctuary’. Two beautiful waterfalls; Athirappilly and Charpa and a rapid at Vazhachal attract lakhs of tourists from all over the world.
This river basin is the only home to a primitive hunter-gatherer tribal group; the ‘Kadar’ their settlements scattered in the forests of the river basin.

Five dams constructed in this river during the sixties namely Parambikulam, Thunacadavu, Peruvarippallam, Tamil Nadu Sholayar and Kerala Sholayar are part of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP). The Chalakudy River has hundreds of lift irrigation schemes and 30 Government operated drinking water supply schemes and a population of about 10 lakh directly dependent on the river for various uses. The upper catchment has a 200 year odd history of deforestation for agricultural and forestry plantations. Dams and inter basin water transfers have added to the degradation. Heavy sand mining, over extraction of water for drinking and irrigation even for other river basins and saline ingress are taking their toll on the river.

The Kerala Government proposed to start several projects in different parts of this river basin: Athirappilly Hydro Electric Project, Poringalkuthu Right Bank HEPs, the Karappara- Kuriarkutty multipurpose project, the Edamalayar Augmentation scheme. It was believed that implementation of such would lead to further deterioration of river health.

BIODIVERSITY VALUE OF THE PROPOSED ATHIRAPPILLY HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT AREA
Research by different agencies identified that the proposed project area is notable due to the following factors:
1. the elephant migratory route connecting Parambikulam WLS with Pooyamkutty forests passes through the submergence area.
2. all the four species of hornbills of Western Ghats are found in this area
3. the rare, remnant patches of low elevation riparian forest habitat occur here
4. this forms a high fish diversity zone, with the Chalakudy river being one of the highest fish diversity rivers in India (104 sp) and the upper areas has been recommended for a fish sanctuary by the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR).
5. this region forms the Mahseer Tor fish bank of India
6. forms the habitat of the rare and endangered Cochin Forest Cane turtle Vijayachelys silvatica
7. at least 215 bird species have been identified in this and its surrounding areas
8. Larger mammals like elephants, gaur, sambhar, Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque, Malabar giant squirrel and the tiger frequently spotted in this area
more details are available in the Resources section.

More details on CPSS activities can be found here.

CURRENT SITUATION
The WGEEP (Gadgil) Report, having consulted various stakeholders including technical experts (including Electricity Board, line departments), researchers (French Institute of Pondicherry, BirdLife International, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Kerala Biodiversity Board, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources), panchayat, tribals and public, recommended that the project should not be permitted. The HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report, however, suggested that the Kerala State Government could approach the Government of India, based on its new guidelines for Western Ghats. The matter is pending in the Kerala High Court.

SAF PUBLICATIONS
1. Sequence of events on the Athirappilly Dam Project
2. Biodiversity values of Athirappilly
3. Critique and comments on the EIA reports submitted on the Athirappilly Project
4. Alternatives to the Athirappilly project

OTHER RESOURCES
1. A booklet in Malayalam on the status of Chalakudy river ( 2002) published by the CPSS – Chalakudy Puzha -Charithram Varthamanam
2. Malayalam translation of the Executive Summary of the WCD Report 2000 for wider dissemination amongst public, political parties and legislature ( 2002)
3. Book on the Inter Linking of Rivers Experience in Kerala “Tragedy of Commons- The Kerala experience in River Linking” Published jointly by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People based in New Delhi and River Research Centre.
( 2004)
4. Malayalam Publication ‘Varalchayude Kaanapurangal” (the hidden side of drought) in collaboration with the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (2006).
5. Selected 20 articles on local water conflicts and crisis that had been published in the ‘Mathrubhumi’ news daily during World Water Week 2005 formed the basis for this booklet
6. A Campaign CD of the proposed Athirappilly project ‘Puzha Jeevanu Vendi” – River for Life prepared by Amitha Bachan of the CPSS.

Athiramppilly Waterfalls, which will be affected by the proposed hydroelectric dam. Photo credit: Lalitha Vijayan

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel was constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in March 2010 with an agenda to assess the current ecological situation of the Western Ghats and to suggest measure for rejuvenating it. It was also mandated to delineate ecologically sensitive areas. The Panel consisted of 14 members under the chairmanship of Dr. Madhav Gadgil. Dr. V.S. Vijayan from Salim Ali Foundation was a member of the WGEEP committee.

The WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) report is globally monumental in evolving a development and conservation program for such a large geographic region involving academic, social and administrative inputs. This report highlights how livelihood of people could be improved without damaging biodiversity and environment, in a decentralized, democratic way. It considers development and conservation in an integrated manner. It disapproves the present strategy of excluding local people from both conservation and development.
It is the first of its kind where the recommendations where put to public for debate and acceptance.

The WGEEP Report considering the biotic, geoclimatic and anthropogenic activities classified the Western Ghats into highly significant, moderately significant, less significant zones of ecological sensitivity; zones 1, 2, and 3. Methodology published as a peer-reviewed article in Current Science journal.

In Kerala, a state with the highest population density in India (860 people per sq. .km in 2011), 72% of land area falls within the Western Ghats. This region also hosts about 50% (about 17 million) of its population. This made the publication of the WGEEP Report and its perception in the society very critical and the basis for extensive public debate.

After submission of the report, and as part of Salim Ali Foundation’s focus on conservation and sustainable development of Western Ghats, several awareness building activities have been conducted.

In order to take the recommendations of the report to a larger section of the society, SAF
a) participated in / conducted discussion meetings for:

1. General public at public locations and events (No.s)
2. Schools and colleges (No.s)
3. Academic institutions (No.s)
4. Administrators
5. Legal experts
6. Media

b) published information booklets in English and vernacular language (Malayalam) (see resources)

c) wrote articles in newspapers and journals

d) conducted a public rally in Trivandrum city on 8 January 2014 to highlight the need for implementing the WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) Report. This rally, comprising about 1500 people from across the Kerala state led to the Kerala state Legislative Assembly.

e) sent representations (including personal meetings) to the Government of India (MoEF) and the Government of Kerala.

f) distributed summary reports to all Members of the Parliament from Kerala and the Kerala State Legislative Assembly.

In Aug 2012 the Indian Government (MoEF) constituted a High Level Working Group on the Western Ghats (HLWG) comprising nine members, chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan to recommend the ways to implement WGEEP (Madhav Gadgil) Report without affecting the marginal and down-trodden communities. The HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report was submitted in April 2013.

The HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report divided the Western Ghats into two on the basis of vegetation and proportion of human habitation. Accordingly, the human habitations including agricultural land has been denoted as ‘cultural landscape’ (67% of Western Ghats – 104,280 sq. km.) and forested area with less human habitation as ‘natural landscape'(37% of Western Ghats – 60,000 sq. km.). It has banned certain activities in the ‘natural landscape’ but promoted many, with a ceiling, that could have serious repercussions on the ecology of the Western Ghats. In the ‘cultural landscape’ no particular restrictions were suggested for any development activities (including mining and quarrying) apart from the existing rules and regulations.

Salim Ali Foundation felt that the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report is incomplete as it had not incorporated the full biodiversity value of different regions. It had included only vegetation (plant) cover and diversity data to classify the entire Western Ghats, ignoring important information on endemism and threat levels to various biota (including plants).

The perceptions of the implications of these reports varied across the society in Kerala, among different stakeholders, particularly different political parties and a section of the church. This led to several protests and wide-spread agitations particularly in the districts of Kerala that fell exclusively within the Western Ghats (Idukki and Wayanad). The major bone of contention in these areas was that both reports, if implemented, would adversely affect the interest of the farmers in these regions. Curiously, the first group to react to the WGEEP (Gadgil) Report was a section of the Church, representing the settlers/farmers in these regions and the same group responded similarly to the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report. The Kerala state government also demanded that the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report be amended as per the wishes of the agitators.

Salim Ali Foundation, in order to increase the awareness of the public and bring clarity to the issue, conducted the following activities:
a) comparative analysis of both WGEEP (Gadgil) and HLWG (Kasturirangan) reports

b) sent the comparative analysis to the Government of India (MoEF) and the Government of Kerala.

c) brought out a boooklet in Malayalam, for the public available at shop

d) the booklet was sent to all Members of the Parliament from Kerala and the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, all 978 Panchayats in Kerala, 2183 major public libraries in Kerala

e) participated in / conducted discussion meetings for:
1. General public at public locations and events (No.s)
2. Schools and colleges (No.s)
3. Academic institutions (No.s)
4. Administrators
5. Legal experts
6. Media

More details can be found in the Resources section. LINK

CURRENT SITUATION
The Government of India, through its official orders dated 13 Nov 2013, 20 Dec 2013 and 4 Mar 2014 approved the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report, with restrictions and made the report open for comments from public (until 4 May 2014).
The Kerala State Government formed a three member committee, convened by the Chairman, Kerala Biodiversity Board, to review the feasibility of implementing the HLWG (Kasturirangan) Report in consultation with the stake holders.

SAF PUBLICATIONS
1. The WGEEP (Gadgil) Report – Facts and Concerns in English (download here), Malayalam (download here)
2. Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committee Reports on Western Ghats: A Comparative Analysis (in Malayalam) Buy online for Rs 55 or buy for Rs 20 + Postage (pay by cheque)

OTHER RESOURCES

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