Centre proposes over 56,000 sq km ESA across 6 states
NEW DELHI: Unable to bring states on board for demarcating ecologically sensitive area (ESA) in the Western Ghats despite six draft notifications since 2014, the Centre released the seventh one proposing the earmarking of 56,825 sq km across states as sensitive zone to prohibit/regulate environmentally hazardous human activities within the fragile region.Spread over six states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu – the Western Ghats is an important geological landform on the fringe of the west coast of India, extending over a distance of approximately 1,500 km.Main objections over earmarking ESA are learnt to have come from peninsular states, primarily Kerala, as they insisted that the proposed prohibited zones would adversely affect the livelihood of people due to a ban on certain activities. Like the sixth one, which was issued three days after the massive landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad district in 2024, the seventh one too has coincidentally come after the recent landslides in the same district, which falls within the fragile region impacted by massive deforestation and other hazardous activities over the years.The environment ministry that notified the seventh draft in the official gazette Monday said the proposal would be “taken into consideration” for publishing the final notification of ESA on or after the expiry of a period of 60 days from the date on which copies of the gazette are made available to the public. The latest draft, like the sixth one, also proposed a provision where the final ESA notification can be taken up “in a phased manner either state-wise or through a combined single notification” – a move that may help in speeding up the process without waiting for all six states to be on board simultaneously.The ESA issue has been pending since Aug 2011, when a central panel, headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, recommended the Centre notify a ‘no-go zone’ to save the fragile terrain in six states.The first draft notification to earmark ESA was issued in March 2014, but the proposal remains on paper since then. The ministry subsequently issued five more drafts in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2024 before coming out with the latest one Monday. A central expert committee held several rounds of discussions with the states, but the final converging point continues to elude the stakeholders.The draft proposes the ESA of 20,668 sq km in Karnataka; 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra; a little over 9,993 sq km in Kerala; 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu; 1,461 sq km in Goa; and 449 sq km in Gujarat, prohibiting or regulating certain human activities in those areas. It, however, clarifies that the practice of agriculture and plantation activity will not be affected due to the provisions in the draft notification, and the “actual area” will be finalised based on the recommendation of the states, views of stakeholders and the expert committee.
