Kerala MPs ask Centre to reject Gadgil report on WGhats

Idukki MP P T Thomas, who led the agitation by MPs of the Congress-led UDF, claimed that the recommendations in the report were against the interest of the farming community and the Centre should reject it.

He claimed that the recommendations would restrict farming as well as economic and development activities in the Western Ghats region where human settlement began over a century ago.

The report of the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel (WGEEP 2011) was submitted to the Environment Ministry last year.

Considering protests from different organisations, Environment Ministry has constituted a high-level Working Group headed by eminent space scientist and Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan to examine the expert panel report "in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion".