Over 65 villages in three distircts of Gujarat Navsari,Surat and the Dangs will now be part of the Ecologically Sensitive Area of the Western Ghats that has been declared protected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on Thursday. The highest number of villages about 40 are in Dangs district,while the remaining 25 villages in talukas of Bansda in Navsari,Songadh,Uchchhal and Vyara in Surat,are part of the 60,000 sq km area of the Western Ghats notified as ecologically sensitive. Mining,quarrying,sand mining,thermal power plants,construction projects of 20,000 sq m area and above,township projects with an area of 50 hectares are among those that were asked to keep away from this zone,some of which fall on Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. According to a senior official,no major projects have been planned in this region. Most of the existing industrial projects are near the coast. So I dont think this MoEF notification will have any impact on industries. Because of unprecedented threats to natural landscape of the region by urban growth,the Working Group has recommended a non-tolerance policy with respect to highly interventionist activities, states the ministrys order.
