The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has reissued the draft notification of the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in Western Ghats, of which 20,668 sq. km is in Karnataka.
The Centre has notified 46,832 sq. km spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu while leaving out Kerala in the draft notification which has been rejected multiple times by the States concerned. Kerala has undertaken the exercise by physical verification of the ESA recommended by the State and is spread over nearly 9,993.7 sq. km compared to 13,108 sq. km which was suggested by a high-level working group, according to the MoEF&CC.
The latest draft notification has identified 1,572 villages across 10 districts in the State as covered by ESA regulations. But the notification itself introduces a footnote stating that the ‘’actual area will be finalised based on the recommendations of the State, views of stakeholders and ESZ expert committee’’.
