3 states seek shrinking of eco-sensitive areas in Western Ghats

Sources said the expert committee will submit its report to the Environment Ministry by September despite a June-end deadline. While the panel will consider the states’ demands, it will stick to the principles of ecological protection and follow a uniform approach, they said.

The panel, headed by Sanjay Kumar, former Director General of Forests, and comprising members from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, was appointed in July 2022.

It has since held multiple meetings with officials from the six Western Ghat states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — besides seeking inputs from Geological Survey of India, National Institute of Hydrology, Forest Survey of India and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

During the meetings, sources said, Karnataka, where an area of 20,668 sq km was proposed as ESA, maintained its opposition to the K Kasturirangan panel report, which formed the basis for the original draft, saying the livelihood of people in the region would be hit. The Kasturirangan panel had identified 37 percent of the Ghats as ecologically sensitive and recommended prohibition or regulation of certain activities.

Goa, on the other hand, demanded reduction of the 1,461 sq km earmarked as ESAs in the state by nearly 370 sq km. Johnson Fernandes, Director, Dept. of Environment and Climate Change, Goa said,  the reduction of ESAs has been sought in the Sattari, Canacona and Ponda talukas.

Texts and calls seeking comment from Karnataka’s Department Of Ecology & Environment did not elicit a response. Officials of Maharashtra’s environment department refused to comment saying the matter was “still under consideration”.