Karnataka has formed a Cabinet sub-committee to examine the recommendations of the K Kasturirangan committee report on conserving the Western Ghats.
Forest Minister Anand Singh will head the sub-committee that will have seven members, Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said, briefing reporters.
The Kasturirangan Committee has recommended that 20,668 sqkm spread across 11 districts in the Western Ghats cradling 1,592 villages be declared as an Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA), which will come with restrictions that the government believes will hamper developmental works. As a result, Karnataka has repeatedly rejected the report.
A previous Cabinet sub-committee that studied the feasibility of the report had recommended, in January 2019, that its recommendations be rejected as they would hamper the livelihoods of thousands of people.
The sub-committee will also consider proposals to declare ‘eco-sensitive zones’ (ESZ) around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Sources told DH that ESZ for 27 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have been declared so far.
AI, robotic tech park soon
The Cabinet approved a tech innovation hub for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Autonomous Systems. The hub will be called Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Technologies (ART) Park and will come up on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) premises. The state government will invest Rs 60 crore over a five-year period. The total cost of the project is expected to be around Rs 210 crore of which the Centre will provide Rs 150 crore.