Are We Human Shields ?

Capitalists and Communal forces has for now, succeeded in keeping working class as the human shield in their attack against environment - Why GadGill Report should be backed by working class

Anoop Varghese Kuriappuram

It is canards and lies raining about western ghats conservation efforts. while kasturirangan report which has taken an approach of exclusion, instead of participation does not deserve a second look, Gadgill report should be backed due to it’s participatory approach and scientific basis on which data is collected and synthesised. In this article effort is made to address the people’s participation part on which maximum rumours are spread. Many communal and political forces have rallied belligerently against Gadgill report. There were incidents of government office attacks and rioting. Working class movement, which should stand by the scientific  report, is seen as rallying behind communal lead forces for mere 30 cents of vote. LDF who is the principle opposition front seem to in the shackles of  quarrying and resort/construction mafia. There is a situation where no body speaks about facts and everybody whips up emotions. It is commendable that Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishtah(KSSP) is supporting Gadgill report and is doing campaign in meagre means of it’s own.Below are the canards floating around.

1.    People will be evicted
2.    Proposals are anti farmer.
3.    People will not have a control on Zonation
4.    Conservation excludes people
5.    No Development will take place.

There is no mention of evicting people anywhere in the report. Infact there are pro guidelines to close down polluting industries and not permitting quarries etc.It is also nature and farmer friendly by disallowing pesticides and chemical fertilisers in a time bound manner. It is evident from experience of north indian farmers that repeated use of chemical fertilizers will be destructive for agriculture. Report infact promotes use of sustainable practices in agriculture and asks government to reward the same.

Below is the excerpt from Gadgill report which captures in a nut shell the guidelines for zonation. Zonation is required to be notified by ministry which people have the ultimate control.

“On the basis of careful and extensive compilation of information, and wide-ranging field visits, consultations and analysis, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has designated the entire Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) and, assigned three levels of Ecological Sensitivity to different regions of it. These are termed as Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1), Ecologically Sensitive Zone 2 (ESZ2) and Ecologically Sensitive Zone 3 (ESZ3).”

Thus it is false to spread that this committee has decided on final list and it is beyond people’s audit or intervention. Many of the conservation efforts  in india fail miserabley due to two reasons , one is capitalist greed and another is lack convinced people. Conservation should not scuttle livelihood and thus should include people in its approach. When people become a central piece in conservation puzzle, we can be assured that things will happen properly. An earlier success in Attappady (AHADS) is a case in point.

Below are the excerpts from GadGill report, which mandates to take a pro people route in conservation.

“It is now widely accepted that development plans should not be cast in a rigid framework, but ought to be tailored to prevalent locality and time-specific conditions with full participation of local communities, a process that has been termed adaptive co-management. What should be ‘go’ and what should be ‘no go’ development options ought then to be decided on a case-by-case basis, in tune with the specific environmental and socio-economic context, and aspirations of the local communities. Such a system of adaptive co-management would marry conservation to development, and not treat them as separate, incompatible objectives.”

Another  lie that is being spread  is that development will not take place, if this report is implemented. It is totally wrong. People can decide their development needs as shown in below excerpt (by participation in gram sabha’s)

“As per the recommendations of the Panel, the Western Ghats has been zoned into (1) Regions of highest sensitivity or Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1), (2) Regions of high sensitivity or ESZ2, and the (3) Regions of moderate sensitivity or ESZ3. In these zones, the Panel recommends that development activity needs to be decided through a participatory process involving the gram sabhas.”

By Above short narrations, it is totally evident that Gad Gill Report is democratic and pro worker and farmer. Working class must realise that an environment degradation will affect them maximum as they are without means of wealth production and cushions against any environmental disaster. There may be a view that short term employment in resorts or quarries will not be available, but it is for greater good of the future called green environment friendly life. Capitalists and Communal forces has for now succeeded in keeping working class as the human shield in their attack against environment. But let us understand this historical mistake and correct them  as we have done in “Save Silent Valley” campaign when Com. EMS was at helm of affairs.