The project has two distinct aspects which need to be taken into account. First, there are ecological implications that have come under the scrutiny of the environmentalists. The plan has failed to win their nod, which is reason enough for the government to review the whole thing.

Second, the project is going to unsettle the locals living in the area for generations. The indigenous people believe that the eco-park will change many things that they hold dear and want to retain. They feel that the park is being imposed on them against their will. Development must be a spontaneous process with active participation of people. But what we witness in Modhupur is something diametrically opposite. Here is a project likely to affect the natural habitat and lifestyle of some indigenous people; and yet, they have not been consulted before taking up their project!

And it is this psychological chasm that gets widened when a highhanded solution is sought to an essentially developmental issue. It has to be seen that nobody is harassed for not supporting the project, nor should the project be allowed to degenerate into a tool of exploitation by the influential local people or government functionaries. We are dealing with the lives of a small group of citizens and any attempt at undermining their rights, which range from livelihood to upholding cultural heritage, must be thwarted. Let the project be reviewed without ado.