Madhav Gadgil: Scientist, democrat, and tireless champion of India’s ecological conscience

By Parineeta Dandekar, Himanshu Thakkar*

“At the ground level people are really interested and they want to get involved… our report, if nothing else, seems to have served the purpose of triggering such interest,” said Dr. while delivering a lecture on “Democracy and Ecology in Contemporary India” in Delhi in July 2013. He was speaking about the 2010–11 report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), which he chaired—one of his most significant contributions to .

One of us accompanied him during parts of that journey: long days of back-to-back meetings in remote corners of the Western Ghats, listening to people rarely heard in public policy. These gatherings were not limited to plants, trees, or rivers; they were conversations about how villagers imagined development, and how their lands should be treated. No official process had ever asked them these questions. It was environmental democracy—messy, vibrant, and beautiful. It was almost unprecedented then, and remains rare even today.

Predictably, a report grounded in the wisdom and rights of local communities was unacceptable to vested interests. In Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala, politicians distorted its content, spread misinformation, and fuelled fear. The government appointed a High-Level Working Group under Dr. K. Kasturirangan to dilute WGEEP’s recommendations, producing a document deeply at odds with facts and science. Yet, under Gadgil’s leadership, the Western Ghats briefly glimpsed a more hopeful future.

The remains a reference work for ecologically informed river management. Unsurprisingly, one of its key contributors was the late , a central figure in Kerala’s movement against the . Dr. Gadgil had earlier played an important role in the historic , which led to sweeping environmental reforms; he supported struggles such as and the community-led campaign against Athirapilly.

He hailed the —which forced Coca-Cola to shut operations through a Panchayat-led struggle—as a powerful affirmation of grassroots democracy. His work against in the remains a cornerstone for affected communities.

Dr. Gadgil consistently insisted that environmental governance must be participatory, transparent, and informed by local knowledge. He cited the Australian “” programme—where citizens track river health using biological indicators—as a model India should adopt. He argued that India’s progress requires a bottom-up approach, strengthened scientific temper, revitalised traditional wisdom, and unwavering rule of law. Visionary in scope, WGEEP even recommended frameworks for decommissioning dams—something India still lacks policy for.

His legacy also includes drafting the National Biodiversity Act (2002) and helping establish the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. As former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh observed, “Nation builders come in many forms. Gadgil was definitely one of them.”

When asked whether community perceptions were “scientific,” he was firm: local communities know their environment best and must help shape decisions about its use. Even on climate change, he emphasised the safeguarding of natural ecosystems to ensure resilience for those most exposed.

In a 2014 SANRDP report on dams for Mumbai, he wrote presciently: “People at the grass roots are best aware of what is happening to natural, human and social capital… What we need to focus on is implementing constitutional provisions for protecting the environment and empowering the people.”

Recipient of the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and international honours, Gadgil influenced the direction of institutions such as the Botanical and Zoological Survey of India. A rigorous scientist, he was equally at home in forests and hamlets—sharing meals, learning from villagers, writing about community-conserved spaces, and standing with those fighting to protect them. His belief in people was so deep that within conservation circles he seemed radical. Yet when , when landslides struck Wayanad in 2024 and the Western Ghats in 2023, and when industrial pollution in Lote-Parshuram drew global attention, his warnings rang painfully true.

Dr. Madhav Gadgil leaves behind an intellectual legacy and a democratic ecological ethic urgently needed in the India of today. He will be deeply missed—especially now, when his voice is needed more than ever.

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*With South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. Source: sandrp.in

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