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Silent Valley: 25 years of green movement

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 16: Kerala is all set to celebrate the silver jubilee of the declaration of evergreen rainforest Silent Valley as a national park after one of the country's pioneering conservation struggles saved the rich treasure house of flora and fauna from being destroyed for a hydropower project. At the height of the campaign which saw environmentalists, scientists, writers and concerned public at large coming together, the rare biosphere on the southern slopes of the Western Ghats was declared a National Park on November 15, 1984 and was formally inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi the next year. But looking back, some of those who were in the forefront of the campaign now appear slightly sceptical on whether the message of the Silent Valley campaign has helped stop vandalisation and degradation of nature in other parts of the country in the name of development. "It certainly was a crucial phase in the conservation history of India. But it is sad to know that the core message of the Silent Valley movement has not yet been conveyed to the world even during its sliver jubilee," said Prof M K Prasad, who was a leading campaigner for the Silent Valley. "What is important is now is to make use of the occasion to sent a strong message across the country that nature could be protected only by its scientific management," he told PTI. Prof prasad, former PVC of Calicut university says though several comprehensive studies were done and submitted to the authorities for further conservation of national parks and forests in Kerala, they were not implemented in right earnest. "The silver jubilee of Silent Valley movement should not be turned into an occasion only for verbal exercises on conservation or reciting poetry on nature. It should be an opportunity to work out a scientific perspective plan to save nature from further degradation," he said. The Silent Valley, spread around 237.52 sq km in Palakkad district, is a botanical treasure trove of over 1000 species of flowering plants, orchids, ferns, lichens and algae. The area is home to different species of mammals, including the highly endangered Lion-tailed and Bonnet Macaques, reptiles, amphibians, birds and butterflies. Known to scientists and explorers since the 19th century, the Silent Valley caught the public eye when a small band of environmentalists came out against the state government's plan to build a big power project by harnessing Kunthi River flowing through the forest. As the government stood firm and moved to secure clearances to start work, what was initially a local resistance gained momentum, enlisting support from national and international environment groups to become Kerala's first ever mass movement for protection of nature. Scientists and academics were soon joined by writers, cultural leaders and the ‘Save Silent Valley' movement gained support from forums like Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad. It also sparked strong reactions in school and college campuses, where the young for the first time came to realise the dangers of unrestrained destruction of nature. Opponents of the movement often sought to demoralise campaigners dubbing them as fighting for a few monkeys ignoring the development of Kerala and the benefits for the common man. But as the campaigners stood firm and the issue even received support from green movements the world over, the Centre proposed detailed studies of the impact of degradation of the forest which ultimately led to dropping of the project proposal. Interestingly, even after Silent Valley became a successful symbol of conservation struggle, a few years back a proposal was mooted to set up a run-of-river power project at Pathrakkadavu, close to the core of the Silent Valley. It had been shelved in the face of stiff resistance from environmentalists and scientists. Known as Sirendhry Forests based on folk traditions associating the areas with characters of the great Indian epic Mahabharata, the scientific and environmental importance of the area was first recognized by British botanists who explored the area and mentioned Silent Valley in their records. The biosphere, which was part of the British Malabar, was declared a reserve forest in the 19th century itself. Of the total 237.54 sq km, 89.54 sq km forms the core and the rest treated as buffer zone.

                                                                                                               
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