The recommendations of the two reports
on the Western Ghats, one by the Madhav Gadgil and the other by the K.
Kasturiranga led the Environment Ministry to turn approximately 60,000
square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically
Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and
polluting industries over the entire range. All other projects would be allowed
only with the prior consent of gram sabhas (village councils) in the zone.
The decision, once formally notified,
would make the identified region of the Western Ghats complex the largest
protected forests in India ranging over 1,500 km linear
distance from the Tapti river in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Going
with the recommendations of the high-level panel that was headed by Mr.
Kasturirangan, the Ministry has decided to declare the ESA over 37%
of the Western Ghats under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The Ministry has drafted the notification
and it will be put out soon for comments. Natarajan has approved the use of
three criteria that the panel had recommended — biodiversity richness,
fragmentation of forests and human population density to demarcate these forest
patches that would turn into a no-go zone for mining, thermal power plants and
other dirty industries.
The type of industries banned would be
those included in the ‘red list’ issued by the government under the Environment
Protection Act. These are usually considered to be the most polluting of the
lot. Going against the recommendation of the Environment Secretary, the
Minister retained the criteria to leave areas with high-density of population
out of this regulated zone’s ambit. The panel had recommended that the hill tracts
with high population densities be kept out of the ESA ambit. It had advised
against using the legal force that the ESA would provide to alter the economic
practices in these areas, instead suggesting economic and other tools to
incentivise more ecologically sustainable activities.
Within the ESA prior consent from the
gram sabhas and strict adherence to the Forest Rights Act would be made
mandatory for any of the projects that are not on the negative list. This too
would be done after studying cumulative impacts of the projects in the region.
Townships and buildings over 20,000 square metres in the region too would not be allowed once
the draft notification is published. But those already in the pipeline in
different States would be allowed to go ahead. Applications for such townships
would not be entertained in future.
The Ministry has decided to not go with
the recommendations of the high-level panel in the case of windmills.
Construction of windmills would be permitted in the ecologically sensitive area
though environment regulations to review their impact may be brought in through
other legal routes available to the government.
Hydro-electric projects would be
permitted in the ESA but with a new set of strict regulations that the
Kasturirangan-led panel has recommended, including those on maintaining
ecological flows in the rivers.
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