India, Jan. 8 -- Veteran ecologist, Madhav Gadgil (83), known for his seminal work on the Western Ghats and a bottom up approach to environmental conservation passed away in Pune on Wednesday night after a brief illness.

"I am very sorry to share the sad news that my father, Madhav Gadgil, passed away late last night in Pune after a brief illness," said Siddhartha Gadgil in a brief statement.

Gadgil in many ways shaped grassroots environmentalism in India. He is also known for correctly warning that building infrastructure and development projects in the Western Ghats would lead to disastrous consequences. Gadgil's landmark work, dubbed the Gadgil Report, called for the protection of India's ecologically fragile Western Ghats mountain r...