Palakkad: V.S. Vijayan, a member of the Madhav Gadgil Committee on the Western Ghats and former chairman of Kerala Biodiversity Board, said here on Friday that “the mining lobby and other vested interests were spreading canards about the Madhav Gadgil Committee report, which had not made a single reference against farmers or the people living in forest areas.”
Delivering the keynote address at a seminar organised on the committee report by the Kerala Congress (M), Mr. Vijayan said “in fact, the report argued from the side of the farmers and tribespeople . There was no proposal for relocation of any farmer or tribes from the forest areas. In fact, the report had suggested financial assistance for farmers who took up traditional and organic farming,” he said.
Referring to the ecological impact of the proposed Aranmula airport, Dr. Vijayan said socio-economic and environment impact assessment should be done before taking up such projects “The eco-system service value study had found that the people of Aranmula would lose between Rs. 339 and Rs. 445 crore worth ecological service value if the airport was constructed in the paddy fields,” he said.
16/11/12 The Hindu
