Topic Of The Day:- “Trouble In The Hills: On Western Ghats Ecology”
The catastrophic monsoon floods in Kerala and parts of Karnataka have revived the debate on whether political expediency trumped science. Seven years ago, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel issued recommendations for the preservation of the fragile western peninsular region. Madhav Gadgil, who chaired the Union Environment Ministry’s WGEEP, has said the recent havoc in Kerala is a consequence of short-sighted policymaking, and warned that Goa may also be in the line of nature’s fury. The State governments that are mainly responsible for the Western Ghats — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra — must go back to the drawing table with the reports of both the Gadgil Committee and the Kasturirangan Committee, which was set up to examine the WGEEP report. The task before them is to initiate correctives to environmental policy decisions. This is not going to be easy, given the need to balance human development pressures with stronger protection of the Western Ghats ecology. The issue of allowing extractive industries such as quarrying and mining to operate is arguably the most contentious. A way out could be to create the regulatory framework that was proposed by the Gadgil panel, in the form of an apex Western Ghats Ecology Authority and the State-level units, under the Environment (Protection) Act, and to adopt the zoning system that it proposed. This can keep incompatible activities out of the Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs). At issue in the Western Ghats — spread over 1,29,037 sq km according to the WGEEP estimate and 1,64,280 sq km as per the Kasturirangan panel — is the calculation of what constitutes the sensitive core and what activities can be carried out there. The entire system is globally acknowledged as a biodiversity hotspot. But population estimates for the sensitive zones vary greatly, based on interpretations of the ESZs. In Kerala, for instance, one expert assessment says 39 lakh households are in the ESZs outlined by the WGEEP, but the figure drops sharply to four lakh households for a smaller area of zones identified by the Kasturirangan panel. The goal has to be sustainable development for the Ghats as a whole. The role of big hydroelectric dams, built during an era of rising power demand and deficits, must now be considered afresh and proposals for new ones dropped. Other low-impact forms of green energy led by solar power are available. A moratorium on quarrying and mining in the identified sensitive zones, in Kerala and also other States, is necessary to assess their environmental impact. Kerala’s Finance Minister, Thomas Isaac, has acknowledged the need to review decisions affecting the environment, in the wake of the floods. Public consultation on the expert reports that includes people’s representatives will find greater resonance now, and help chart a sustainable path ahead.
Meanings And Words
1) Revived
Meaning: Restore interest in or the popularity of.
Example: “many pagan traditions are being revived”
Synonyms: Reintroduce, Restore
Antonyms: Abolish
2) Expediency
Meaning: The quality of being convenient and practical despite possibly being improper or immoral; convenience.
Example: “an act of political expediency”
Synonyms: Convenience, Advantage
Antonyms: Disadvantage
3) Trumped
Meaning: Surpass (something) by saying or doing something better.
Example: “if the fetus is human life, that trumps any argument about the freedom of the mother”
Synonyms: Outshine, Surpass
4) Fragile
Meaning: Easily destroyed or threatened.
Example: “you have a fragile grip on reality”
Synonyms: Rocky, Shaky
Antonyms: Sound, Durable
5) Havoc
Meaning: Widespread destruction.
Example: “the hurricane ripped through Florida causing havoc”
Synonyms: Devastation, Destruction
6) Consequence
Meaning: A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant; Importance or relevance.
Example: “the past is of no consequence”
Synonyms: Result, Outcome
Antonyms: Cause
7) Short-sighted
Meaning: Lacking imagination or foresight.
Example: “a short-sighted government”
Synonyms: Narrow, Insular
Antonyms: Far-sighted, Imaginative
8) Extractive
Meaning: Of or involving extraction, especially the extensive extraction of natural resources without provision for their renewal.
Example: “extractive industry”
9) Quarrying
Meaning: Cut into (rock or ground) to obtain stone or other materials.
Example: “the hillside had been quarried for many years”
10) Contentious
Meaning: Causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.
Example: “a contentious issue”
Synonyms: Disputable, Debatable
11) Zoning
Meaning: Divide (a town or piece of land) into areas subject to particular planning restrictions.
Example: “an experimental system of zoning”
12) Incompatible
Meaning: (of two things) so different in nature as to be incapable of coexisting.
Example: “cleverness and femininity were seen as incompatible”
Synonyms: Conflicting, Opposed
Antonyms: Compatible, Complementary
13) Hotspot
Meaning: A small area with a relatively high temperature in comparison to its surroundings.
Example: “fire engines were required to visit the scene again last night after hotspots appeared to be in danger of re-igniting”
14) Moratorium
Meaning: A temporary prohibition of an activity.
Example: “a moratorium on the use of drift nets”
Synonyms: Embargo, Ban
15) Resonance
Meaning: The quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating.
Example: “the resonance of his voice”
