After killer Wayanad landslide, sixth call issued to notify Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive area

New Delhi, Aug 2: A day after killer landslides swept the Wayanad region, the Union government for the sixth time issued a draft notification to declare over 56,800 square km of the Western Ghats across six states including Kerala as an “ecologically sensitive area”, though none of the Ghat states agreed on such a status since 2014.

The notification stems from the recommendation of the former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan-led High Level Working Group, which calculated the total area of the Western Ghats at 1.64 lakh sq km, of which 59,940 sq km (37 per cent) is the ESA that needs to be protected at any cost. With 20,668 sq km, Karnataka has the maximum area ESA.

The new draft notification identifies 56,826 sq km of area as the ESA, but its finalisation will depend on the concurrence from the Ghat states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The draft proposes to declare 9,993.7 sq km in Kerala, including 13 villages in two talukas of the landslide-hit Wayanad district, ecologically sensitive.

Overall, it includes 449 sq km in Gujarat, 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra, 1,461 sq km in Goa, 20,668 sq km in Karnataka, 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu, and 9,993.7 sq km in Kerala in the proposed ESA.

According to the notification, nine meetings were held with the states between July 2022 and March 2024 to address their concerns and receive their suggestions. The fifth draft notification was issued in July 2022, which lapsed after the stipulated period.

Similar to all the previous ones, the new draft suggests a ban on mining, quarrying, and sand mining, with existing mines to be phased out within five years "from the date of issue of the final notification or on the expiry of the existing mining lease, whichever is earlier".

It also prohibits new thermal power projects, large-scale construction projects and townships with exceptions for repair and renovation of existing buildings.

The recommendations of the Kasturirangan panel is a watered-down version of what was originally proposed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil more than 12 years ago.

The Gadgil panel recommended declaring 75 per cent of the 129,037 sq km of the Western Ghats as environmentally sensitive and suggested stringent measures to enforce the law.

With no states liking the Gadgil panel’s recommendations, the Congress-led UPA government in 2012 set up the second panel to come out with a workable solution.