The Environment Ministry has constituted a high-level Working Group to examine the Western Ghats ecology expert panel report released recently. The nine-member group, headed by eminent space scientist and Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan, will examine the Madhav Gadgil committee report. The Environment Ministry said, the working group will examine the expert panel report in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion keeping in view the comments received from the concerned state governments, central ministries and other stakeholders. The working group will also examine other related aspects such as preservation of precious biodiversity, needs and aspirations of the local and indigenous people, sustainable development and environmental integrity of the
region and climate change. It will also study the implications of Centre-State relations with respect to conservation and sustainable development of Western Ghats.
Western Ghats is the origin of Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and a myriad of rivers which are life line for the people of southern India. Its ecological health depends on the livelihoods of millions of people belonging to the six Western Ghats states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Western Ghats is also one of the identified hotspots of biological diversity globally and is a treasure trove of biological diversity. It harbours many endemic species of flowering plants, endemic fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and invertebrates.