Mission Possible - The Northern Edge!

Arriving from Delhi for breakfast with Rajeev Khedkar at his Comfort Zone home in Pune was interesting. It was to occur to me later that the poha cooked by him (Rajeev) would be the best for the entire trip. 

Pandu, Sharma and Vijay

Vijay and saarthi Ravi travelled from Sangamner (about 160 from Pune) to drive us through the northern Western Ghats over next six days. Vijay's knowledge about the region came handy in making a sense of the twists in the travels. His bio-cultural perspective on WG should lead towards creating a new set of writings on WG - region wise - as a potential new way of documenting the region. I hope it turns out to be a time-bound exercise over the coming months. However, it would need to be thought through with other similar persons to make contributions from other parts of WG. A serious but doable task!

It was shocking to see at least 15 big irrigation dams in Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts, spread over several hundred hectares. With Western Ghats mountains all around, the site seems ideal for such structures. But the villages are sparsely inhabited and poor. With the Ghats being compressed basalt, the lush grassy cover is not necessarily ‘fodder’ and hence no large cattle herds roam anywhere. The terrain is surely tough, and yet people continue to live. What are the ‘compelling’ factors that override the ‘constraining’ factors for people to continue habitating the region? Can we draw their ‘kundli’ (check left column at kanjarcare.blogspot.com to get a brief reflection on what I mean by ‘kundli’.) to make some sense. I also think some assessment of the ecosystem services (especially water) should make sense in highlighting the virtues of WG. Perhaps, very few in Mumbai realize that the water they flush comes from WG. Efforts in this direction would enliven the discourse on WG. I think important is to locate such questions for finding new answers.

I would imagine ‘sacrifice’ to be an important take home from this trip. The Malin tragedy (see Day 2 below) should be capitalized to recreate the value of conservation in people’s mind. The day can be observed in some form to connect with wider audiences. I suspect if many people travel to the disaster site. The sacrifice of the non-descript humans should not go waste. Human psychology has special place to value such sacrifices, and we must not let it pass.

Follows below is day-wise itinerary

Day 1: Started from Pune at around 1200 hrs, and reached Ahupe village via Manchar. Dimbhe dam was sighted on the way. We had to stay at the house of an Adivasi under most compelling conditions but had good interaction with him about their lives and challenges. Worst, there was power shutdown for better part of the evening. A perfect start to an interesting journey.

Malin: The Eco-Disaster Memorial

Day 2: We started from village Ahupe , which is tucked in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 3,000 ft, and is 140 km from Pune. We also went to Ghoregaon, Junnar, and Naneghat where we went up to the majestic cliff which is on old trade route from Paithan to Kalyan and so on. We visited a sacred grove in village Talmachi, where Tiger is the deity. Total distance covered 145 km. It was painful to visit perhaps the only eco-disaster memorial site in Malin village where a landslide had consumed 151 lives during the monsoons of 2014. The memorial has names of women and children who had perished in the tragedy.

Day 3: We had started the day from the Tulsi Vihar Agro-Tourism Madh Village on the Kalyan-Nirmal National Highway in Junnar block of Pune district. We visited Otur, Brahamnvada, Kotul and Rajur villages in Akole block of Ahmednagar. We observed the landscape and recorded the changes the area is going through. We visited 11th Century temple in village Ratanwadi, and also the Ghatghar Hydel Project. Staying at the ecotourism site in tent was first such experience for me. Total distance travelled was some 169 kms.

Day 4: We located the Sanket Guest House in the district town of Ahawa in the region called Dangs in Gujarat, which is about 32 km from the tourist town of Saputara. We had started the day from Waki small-dam site (where we had stayed in tents) near Bhandardara irrigation dam in Akole block of Ahmednagar district. On way, we visited one of the 12 Jyotirlingams in Triyamabkeshwar (from where Godavari originates) and went to the only of its kind coin museum (Shanti-Krishna Museum of Money & History) at Anjaneri village on the Nashik highway. Met young Yogesh at the same village, a potential case for initiating a ‘Gen-Next Fellowship’ program to engage with next generation in understanding the value of WG from a distinct 21st century perspective. Total distance travelled during the day was 180 km.

Day 5: Dangs turned out to be picturesque and forested landscape though teak plantation was heavily infested. Ayurvedic practitioner Yogesh at Subir village told us that adivasi life is shattered on account of forest destruction and outside influences. We travelled to the very beginning of the Western Ghats at Navapura, and travelled back to reach Nashik through pesticide-loaded grape plantations. Amidst it we found a Bee Centre-cum-Park for children’s picnic at Pimplegaon Baswant - a good concept but badly executed. The agro processing centre by the same guys is a recent start. Stayed at Shri Siyaji Hotel on the outskirts of Nashik during the penultimate day of our WG yatra.

with Ashok and Jyotsna

Day 6: A visit to NIPHA wines on the outskirts of Nashik was the high point of the trip. Ashok-Jyotsna run winery offers the perfect combination of Science (Ashok)+Arts (Jyotsna) of wine making. They are deeply involved from producing grapes to fermenting wines of different flavors. They are great teachers, demystifying many myths about the so-called organic wine. They sell about 15,000 bottles a year and are into profit. In their case, it takes almost a year to make wine whereas commercial setup like Sula bioengineer the process into just 3 months. It is a inspiring case of entrepreneurship.

Our next stop was at Ojhar water user cooperative - 24 WUAs engaged in water distribution and management from dam Waghad on Kolvan River. Met Sh. Ramnath Wabale who explained the work of Samaj Pariivartan Sanstha. The cooperative water distribution is running for some 29 years now, and it only led to the birth and success of Sahyadri Farmer Producers Company. After lunch, Pandu and Sharma departed for Mumbai whereas Vijay and Ravi left on their 80-km home bound journey to Sangamner.

Epilogue: All credit goes to Pandu and Vijay for planning the agenda-less trip, and for Ravi to ferry us around without any fuss. Bhakri (Jowar roti) was lead cereal during the trip, alongside local vegetables. 

(The travel was conducted from Dec 22-29, 2019. and many of its findings are still relevant.)

King Cobra on a train

Not long ago on board a night train through the Western Ghats, I dreaded if a king cobra would not be travelling along. Yes, on the train. In the recent past, a 10-feet long king cobra was captured in a train to Dehradun. This wasn’t a freak event. More and more reports of snakes on trains have hit the headlines in recent years. What if the snake were to give us the dreaded company? Be it venomous or not, a snake creates panic and may raise the risk of harming both people and the snake. 

When it hit the big screen in 2006, Snakes on a Plane was no more than a fantasy that wasn't altogether improbable. During the second World War, the voracious brown tree snake reached new islands in the Pacific Ocean by climbing onto landing gear of a plane. Snakes are notorious and sensational travelers. Not many could believe that venomous snakes often travel on trains in India. The inadvertent hitchhiking appears to be transporting these deadly creatures to unknown places.

A recent study published in Biotropica takes a closer look at these reports which put snakes in unsuitable habitats. Many such encounters are reported each year in the country. Snakes adjust to the new habitat with ease. That is why snakes travel anywhere and everywhere. It must be said that snakes find the train habitat convenient. One reason for the snakes to hop aboard might have to do with their burrows being flooded, causing the reptiles to seek dry shelter. 

So, finding a snake a few feet away on a train is quite a possibility. Although it could be on any train, but it is more in the case of trains passing through Goa. King cobra has reportedly been caught aboard on many trains. Snakes are agile climbers, maybe getting onto freight trains when the trains stop near their habitats. They are good hunters too, as freight trains carry grain/fruit to attract rodents, lizards, or other snakes including rat snakes.

But if an apex predator like king cobra establishes itself in a new environment, it could have huge ecological implications. Even lone introductions pose a risk to humans especially if a king cobra arrives in a place where people have never dealt with a venomous snake of that size before...by Sudhirendar Sharma

Not by design but WGEEP subsumed peoples' voice

Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment &
 Forests, at the Kotagiri SWGM. Dr Sudhirendar
Sharma, Latha Anantha and Pratim Roy can be
seen sitting at the dais. 

  

Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil is known to have shifted the paradigm on nature conservation discourse, by giving primacy to rights of the marginalized communities for whom the forest was home. As chairman the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), constituted by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in 2010, the panel proposed stringent environmental safeguards in ecologically sensitive zones across the Western Ghats. Rooted in scientific evidence and fieldwork, it recommended decentralized decision-making and community participation. The report triggered intense political resistance and public debate, not a single state government fully supported its implementation. 

How the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel come into being?   

Diverse social groups and individuals joined hands in establishing the Save Western Ghats Movement (SWGM), which organized a padyatra that brought activists from Gujarat to Kerala to collate into a movement in Goa under the leadership of Mr Kalanand Mani. The padyatra was hailed by India Today as one of the finest post-independence environmental movements, but the mid-1980s march along the pristine 'ghats' withered away on account of internal squabbling between the organizers. 

There was long silence thereafter! It was between year 2006 till 2008 that the Delhi-based activist-journalist Sudhirendar Sharma got an opportunity to travel across the ghats to capture the latent energy among diverse actors to reignite the past. The month-long travel was guided by Pandurang Hegde, who carried the painful memories of the historic padyatra. The colorful travelogue Paradise Lost....almost left much to the imagination. Despite apprehensions it was agreed to let an outsider from the region guide the movement. 

Two important congregations of activists, researchers, scientists, artists, politicians and thinkers were organized under the aegis of Save Western Ghats Movement - an informal platform of civil society actors promoting conservation. The first in 2009 in Ponda (Goa) revived the erstwhile movement of the mid-80's and tabled the environmental challenges. It was so designed that the participatory meeting was considered a grand success. The Keystone Foundation volunteered to host the next such meeting at Kotagiri (near Ooty) on the condition of its moderation by the 'same outsider'*.  

The second congregation in Kotagiri in 2010 was a major milestone as it led to the setting-up of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel by the Ministry of Environment & Forests. The then Union Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh chaired the meeting and paid serious attention to SWGM demand for setting up of the 'Western Ghats Ecological Authority'. From the dais itself, the minister sought advice (from his Delhi office) on making a public announcement in that regard. But protocol demanded that an expert group or a committee should go into the pros & cons of setting up such an authority. 

A day later after Feb 2010 meeting, the formation of WGEEP was formally announced under the chairmanship of (late) Dr Madhav Gadgil. Representing SWGM, researcher-activist. Latha Anantha worked very closely with WGEEP in delivering its ambitious report. Rest, as it said, is history.          

*Sudhirendar Sharma

The green sari in tatters

“The Western Ghats are naturally an important focus of sustainable development efforts. The protector of the Indian peninsula, the mother of the Godavari, Krishna, Netravathi, Kaveri, Kunthi, Vaigai and a myriad other rivers, Kalidasa likens the Western Ghats to a charming maiden; Agasthyamalai is her head, Anaimalai  and Nilgiri the breasts, her hips the broad ranges of Kanara and Goa, her legs the northern Sahyadri. Once the lady was adorned by a sari of rich green hues; today her mantle lies in shreds and tatters. It has been torn asunder by the greed of the elite and gnawed at by the poor, striving to eke out a subsistence. This is a great tragedy, for this hill range is the backbone of the ecology and economy of south India.”

These words of veteran ecologist Madhav Gadgil remain among the most evocative descriptions of the fragile mountain range. They also remain among the most ignored. Gadgil passed away on January 7, 2026, whose lifelong struggle to protect the Western Ghats remains tragically unfinished.

Even in his final years, as age and illness weighed on him, Gadgil continued to speak, write, and argue for the Ghats. Often unheard, sometimes ridiculed, and frequently dismissed as “anti-development,” he persisted with quiet resolve. At a time when rapid infrastructure expansion had become synonymous with progress, his voice sounded inconvenient. Yet his concern was simple and unwavering: development should not mean disaster, and growth should never come at the cost of the poor or the environment that sustains them.

Gadgil helped shape landmark environmental legislation; devoted his entire life to protecting the “lady adorned by a sari of rich green hues.” For him, conservation was not about locking forests away from people. It was about recognizing communities as custodians of nature, not obstacles to development.

In 2010, the Union government appointed him head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, later known as the Gadgil Commission. The panel’s report called for stringent environmental safeguards in ecologically sensitive zones of the Western Ghats. Rooted in scientific evidence and fieldwork, it recommended decentralized decision-making and community participation. The report triggered intense political resistance and public debate across six States. Yet, despite the urgency of its warnings, no government fully supported its implementation.

Internationally, Gadgil’s work earned him admiration. In 2024, he was named a laureate of the United Nations Environment Program’s Champions of the Earth award, which is the UN’s highest environmental honors — recognizing his lifetime contribution to ecological science and community-led conservation. He was one of the six laureates that year. At home, however, he lived an increasingly isolated life, as a new era of development emerged in which his ideas and his report were seen as impediments rather than guidance.

Among his most enduring contributions was the establishment of the India’s first biosphere — Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986. His work there was not confined to data and maps. He trekked through the forests, lived among communities, and studied the sacred groves, believing that ecological knowledge resided as much in local traditions as in laboratories. Gadgil was deeply critical of both extractive development and authoritarian conservation.

With Gadgil’s death, India has lost a rare voice, one that argued relentlessly that environmental protection and development are not opposing goals. For him, true development was rooted in scientific rigor, ethical responsibility, and social justice, with local communities at the center of natural resource management.

The green sari he mourned decades ago continues to fray. The question he leaves behind is stark and unresolved: will India finally listen or will the silence around the Western Ghats grow as deep as the forests he fought to protect. First published in the HinduBusiness Line by Radheshyam Jadhav on January 08, 2026.