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Let all have a say

  • 29/09/1996

the issues of environment and ecology are intricately embedded in the socio-economic milieu in India. The coexistence of a substantial number of forest-dependent tribals and the mismanagement of resources is the reason for this. Poverty, and an indifferent bureaucracy add to the complexity of the situation. So what should be done about this and moreover, who should do it?

Gadgil and Guha are more than vociferous about the fact that ecological decentralisation is the key to striking and maintaining a balance between the use and misuse of resources. The book alleges that the administration is only oriented towards resource exploitation. By doing so, it is posing a major threat to the ecological health and demographic oneness of the country, something that has manifested itself in the form of unrest in different parts of the nation. Discussing the arbitrariness of land and forest-related regulations, the authors lament the decreasing rights and obligations of the original inhabitants of the forest.

An intellectual effort to redress this seems to have inspired Gadgil and Guha to write this well-researched book. The book examines various impediments to the process of ecological amelioration and suggests corrective measures. Divided into two parts, the first part of the book discusses the basic framework of socio-economic disparity and the resultant stress on the ecology. The second part is an analytical presentation of various environmental problems along with feasible suggestions in terms of strategies for ecological planning, promotion and coordination.

According to the authors, if the antagonism ecological or otherwise has to disappear, it can only happen when the processes of ecological planning and development become participatory and transparent.

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