visakhapatnamanantagiri plains on the east coast of india can be wealthy only if the eastern ghats remain healthy and it is the responsibility of the public to conserve the ecological niche provided by these mountains opined panelists at a seminar on environmental protection of eastern ghats on thursday speaking on the occasion former secretary to the central government eas sarma raised various important issues such as ecological and social impacts of bauxite mining he also rued the lack of awareness about eastern ghats and the value of tribals among people residing in the plains he also pointed out that bauxite mining would cause ground water contamination massive displacement of tribal communities water scarcity due to excessive use by mining companies and would have impact on generations of tribal communities sarma also expressed resentment over the change of stand on bauxite mining by political parties after coming to power he highlighted the provisions of fifth schedule of indian constitution which directs for adopting any law to suit the needs of tribal communities expressing concern over ineffective implementation of important laws such as forest rights act and pesa sarma warned of water scarcity that would result from the mining of various minerals in eastern ghats the reservoirs such as megadrigedda tatipudi mudusarlova raiwada which supply water to vizag city might dry up to ineffective management of eastern ghats he said environmental activist ravi rebbapragada expressed his apprehensions about the cultural and social impacts of bauxite mining on adivasi communities he gave an elaborate presentation on the concept of health of the hills is the wealth of the plains and highlighted the threats to regional food and water security sujeet kumar from the centre for environmental education goa outlined the various issues that could arise due to mining and their catastrophic impacts on local communities he called for effective public participation for conservation of land water and forests