Center reissues draft notification on eco sensitive areas in Western Ghats

Last Updated05/08/2024

The Union government has re-issued for the sixth time in a decade a draft notification classifying parts of the Western Ghats in six States as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).
This would impose restrictions on economic activities such as quarrying, mining, and large infrastructural development in these areas.

While such notifications typically become law after that period, the Union government has historically refrained from doing so with regard to this particular notification given the severe public backlash that it has invited.
A committee steered by ecologist Madhav Gadgil and mandated to examine the degree of protection needed in the Western Ghats recommended in 2011 that the entire region spanning 1,29,000 square km be declared as ecologically sensitive.
Following consultations with residents, industrialists, and government officials connected to the Western Ghats States, the Gadgil panel recommended the creation of three broad zones - ESA 1, ESA 2 and ESA 3 - with the first two inviting the strictest restrictions on economic activity.
With the States unwilling to accept the recommendations, a second committee led by former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan reconvened the exercise and halved the area of protected regions.
The committee also invited States to draw up their own ESAs.
- Kerala was the first to do so, followed by others.

A separate committee has been constituted to examine the concerns of States and it was expected that a final notification would follow upon the recommendation of this committee.
New thermal power projects and the expansion of existing plants will not be allowed, and new ‘Red category’ industries – a list of which will be drawn up the Central Pollution Control Board – will be prohibited.
New and expansion projects of building and construction with built-up areas of 20,000 square metres and above, and all new and expansion townships and area development projects with an area of 50 hectares and above, or with built-up area of 1,50,000 square metres and above will also be prohibited.
Hydropower projects conforming to certain conditions will, however, be allowed, and a separate monitoring mechanism will be established for economic activity in the region.