Gadgil report put on the website of MoEF under RTI
29 May, 2012Acting under the High Court orders, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), has put the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report on its website. The report carries a disclaimer that it is still being analysed and considered by the MoEF.
The expert panel was constituted in March 2010 and was headed by Madhav Gadgil. It submitted its report to the MoEF in August2011 and had been under scrutiny of the Ministry since then. Against the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to put a copy of the report on its website, the MoEF approached Delhi High Court which dismissed the MoEF plea against making the WGEEP’s report public.
Activists have alleged that most of the states where Western Ghats are spread have carried out various activities in the ecologically sensitive area against the norms.