Space Scientist, K. Kasturirangan has passed away on 25th April, at Bangalore. He was 84. He had served as the Chairman of ISRO, was a member of Rajya Sabha and the Planning Commission.
He will be also remembered for heading the High-Level Working Group (HLWG) on the Western Ghats, also known as The Kasturirangan Committee, wherein he was tasked to revise and reconsider the recommendations of the earlier Gadgil Committee or Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report.
His report has been hailed by many as a just one which tried to strike a balance between development and conservation in the Western Ghats. The report proposed that at least 37% of the area of Western Ghats be declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones. Unfortunately it was outright rejected by our State’s government. His report also faced a lot of criticism and rejection in Kerala. The governments of both state alleged that the report impedes development and livelihood in the Western Ghats.
