BENGALURU: Karnataka and the Centre are in a tiff again over the implementation of the Kasturirangan report for the protection of the Western Ghats landscape.
Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) officials and Central government constituted a committee, and held a meeting with the state forest department to discuss the sixth time prepared draft for the implementation of the report. The meeting was held earlier this week in Bengaluru, where delegates from other states participated online.
Ministry sources said, “While other Western Ghats states expressed confusion over the implementation of the report, Karnataka, expressed its strong rebel. It outrightly rejected it. We were trying to find a middle path to implement it. We are not forcing anyone to accept the report.”
Karnataka forest officials put forth the stand of the state government, stating that the Cabinet has taken the decision to reject the report.
“We cannot go against the state government. Around 70% of the Western Ghats is a part of the forested area, which also includes reserve forests. The remaining are exploited for multiple purposes. Just like the Centre, we also want to protect the Western Ghats, but our method is different. We have to abide by the Cabinet’s decision,” an official said.
It may be recalled that in August 2024, the cabinet took the decision to reject the report. The government decided to oppose the proposal to declare a 22,668 sq km area as an eco-sensitive area and restrict development in the region.
The government was of the opinion that it had already notified 16,632sqkm in multiple forms like national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and eco-sensitive zones and beyond that, it will be difficult, as the livelihood of people staying in the remaining regions will be compromised.
In 2015, the state government agreed to halt mining while permitting stone quarrying and sand mining, and proposed promoting eco-tourism by declaring 153 of 1,553 villages as ecologically sensitive.
The 2013 Kasturirangan report, which was prepared by ex-ISRO head, Dr K Kasturirangan, proposed protecting 37% of the Western Ghats—about 60,000 sq km—including 20,668 sq km in Karnataka, which houses the lion’s share of the area stretching from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa.