The Centre has informed a delegation from Karnataka that the draft notification of Ecologically Sensitive Areas in Western Ghats will not be implemented till the report from a high-level committee headed by retired IFS officer Sanjay Kumar is received on the issue.
This was disclosed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who led the delegation to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Monday to clarify the State’s stand. “All States having Western Ghats have got another chance now to convince the ground realities.”
The Chief Minister also announced that a high-level committee at the State-level will be set up in Karnataka based on the terms of reference of the committee set up by the Centre. “The State committee will help in providing facts, figures and ground realities when the Centrally appointed committee visits the State. The State will ask for consideration of village as a unit and to hear the views of the gram panchayat when the committee comes,” he said, terming the Kasturirangan Committee report as “unscientific”.
He said that the high-level committee has been set up to conduct research on cultural and natural landscapes in the area and submit a report within one year, and till then the Centre will not operationalise the draft notification.
Mr. Bommai said that Karnataka will also discuss with other States that share Western Ghats for a common cause, and Mr. Yadav has been invited to visit the State to understand the ground realities.
While reiterating the State’s stand on the ESA in Western Ghats, the Chief Minister said that the delegation apprised the Union Minister of the ground realities in the Western Ghat region in the State. “The State has opposed it earlier too. Recently, the Cabinet opposed the same. Earlier also, all States had opposed the recommendation of the Gadgil Committee,” the Chief Minister told reporters in Delhi.
He clarified that the State government was not opposed to the demarcation of red zone that prohibits establishment of industries to come up. “However, the implementation of the draft notification will affect the lives of people already living there.”
Mr. Bommai said that there has been no comprehensive survey of Western Ghats conducted so far. “Based on the satellite images the area is being declared as ecologically sensitive. No ground level survey has been done yet. People are living with nature in harmony. We do not want this to be disturbed. The Kasturirangan report has been prepared without seeking opinion from the people, and it did not distribute cultural and natural landscape.”
The delegation had Ministers, legislators and Members of Parliament from the Western Ghats region of the State.
