Published in Dwarka Express on 16.7.22

Do we have any doubt that Western Ghats is an ecologically sensitive zone (ESA) and needs protection? Sometimes, even the obvious facts need legal validity. When there is a tug of war going between locals and the Govt in declaring a place as eco sensitive zone, the simple way is to seek expert opinion. In the case of Western Ghats, the same thing happened. A working group under the leadership of Kasturirangan was constituted in 2012 to study the western ghats to strike a balance between the aspirations of the locals for development of the fragile western ghats area and the environmental activists who bat for preserving the environment and biodiversity of the Ghats. The panel report recommended a blanket ban on mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and factories. It also recommended that any infra project has to be assessed for environmental and wildlife damage before permission is given. Before issuing notification on the basis of findings, a draft notification was circulated which declares 46832 KMs in Western Ghats coving Gujrat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Tamilnadu as ESA in Western Ghats region. The majority of the proposed ESA lies in Karnataka. No wonder that the Union Govt, MoEFCC draft notification is facing a strong protest in Karnataka. From 2013, after the panel’s recommendation has been under vehement criticism. There is restriction on construction of new townships and permissions for polluting industries since then, has done no good than harm. A decision support and monitoring centre for western ghats is to be established by the Environment Ministry to assess and report the status of ecology of western ghats on regular basis. If implemented in letter and spirit, the ESA of Western Ghats will be protected for posterity, but if ignored, the Western Ghat will turn into a concrete jungle soon.