BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has reiterated its opposition to the Dr K Kasturirangan Committee recommendations on declaring parts of the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs).
In the assembly on Thursday, Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Ramalinga Reddy, replying to legislators AS Ponnanna and HD Thammanna on the interests of farmers, said the government will file its objections with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) which issued the seventh draft notification on July 27, 2026, after six earlier draft notifications lapsed.
“Objections or suggestions of state governments are to be submitted within 60 days from the date of the draft notification. We still have one month to do so,” he said.
The state rejected the report to alleviate distress caused to farmers and the public, as more than 1,000 villages in the state are covered under the draft notification declaring the Western Ghats as an ESA and buffer zone, he said.
The High Level Working Group headed by Dr K Kasturirangan, constituted by the Government of India to suggest measures for conservation of the Western Ghats, submitted a report in 2013, in which an estimated 56,000sqkm of area in six states was recommended as ESAs. Of this, 20,668sqkm area is in Karnataka, he explained.
Based on the committee report, the MoEFCC had earlier issued draft notifications for declaring the Western Ghats region as an ESA. Due to the inability to finalize draft notifications in time, the first six draft notifications expired and the present Central government has re-issued the seventh draft notification, he elaborated. The notifications regulate mining, quarrying, sand mining, thermal power plants, construction and township (beyond specified limits) developments, he added.
Like the previous draft notifications, an area of 20,668sqkm across 10 districts in Karnataka were identified for declaration as an ESA -- Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Hassan, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Udupi. A total of 1,449 villages in 39 taluks of these districts have been included under the scope of Eco-Sensitive Area, he said.