-TheWeek.in Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil blames the “law-flouting” state government for the devastation in Kerala. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by Gadgil in 2011, had suggested measures to preserve the ecologically frail Ghats. But, the Kerala government, like the other five states, chose to reject the report. Having suffered such devastation, Gadgil feels that the state should survey the “ecologically sensitive zones” that have been compromised due to...

-The Hindu Business Line The rejection of the the Gadgil panel report, by all the six States along the Western Ghats, has proved to be a costly error The floods of catastrophic dimensions that ravaged Kerala recently have brought into sharp focus the all-round ecological destruction caused by human interference in the State’s hilly terrains. The fact that there were 12 major landslides and hundreds of minor ones within a fortnight in the...

-Hindustan Times The ecologist said extensive stone quarrying and mushrooming of high-rises as part of tourism, and illegal forest land acquisition by private parties are the major reasons for the recent floods in the state. Pune: Ecologist Madhav Gadgil, founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has described the floods in Kerala as a man-made disaster; a reaction to the illegal excavations, stone quarrying done...

-India Today Kottayam/ Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has been facing unusually high rainfall since early August, which has led to statewide floods killing hundreds and causing severe damage. At least 167 people have lost their lives and over two lakh people are in relief camps. Most of the regions impacted by this monsoon were once classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Committee. The report...

-The Telegraph Hunger kills. In India, it does so with alarming frequency. Three girls aged eight, four and two died in the national capital last week; the autopsy showed that their stomach and bowels were "absolutely empty". This was in spite of the fact that the oldest girl at least went to school and should have been receiving mid-day meals. The blame, as usual, was at first apportioned to exclusion. The...