India today remembers Madhav Gadgil, a towering ecologist who dared to speak truth to power in an era when corporate greed increasingly dictates environmental policy. As the chairperson of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, Gadgil placed people, ecology, and democratic decision-making at the centre of conservation. He warned—clearly and repeatedly—that unregulated mining, destructive infrastructure, and profit-driven “development” would devastate fragile ecosystems and endanger millions who depend on them.
Successive governments chose to dilute, distort, or bury his recommendations, prioritising corporate interests over ecological survival. Yet Gadgil never retreated. He insisted that the climate crisis and ecological collapse are man-made, worsened by policies that silence local communities and reward environmental destruction. His work remains a moral compass for India at a time of floods, landslides, heatwaves, and displacement.
Paying tribute to Madhav Gadgil is not just remembrance. It is a call to defend science, democracy, and people’s rights against an economic model that treats nature as expendable.
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https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/madhav-gadgil-obituary-ecologist-western-ghats/article00000000.ece
