‘Decision on Centre’s fresh draft notification on Kasturirangan report only after consulting with State Cabinet, leaders of all parties’

Forest and Environment Minister B. Eshwar Khandre on Monday said that the decision on whether to implement the Centre’s fresh draft notification on the Kasturirangan committee report on conservation of the Western Ghats would be taken only after discussing the issue in the State Cabinet and with leaders of all political parties of the State.

Forest and Environment Minister B. Eshwar Khandre on Monday said that the decision on whether to implement the Centre’s fresh draft notification on the Kasturirangan committee report on conservation of the Western Ghats would be taken only after discussing the issue in the State Cabinet and with leaders of all political parties of the State.

Recently, the Union government reissued the draft notification classifying parts of the Western Ghats in six States, including Karnataka, as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).

“The Centre now issued another notification regarding the Kasturirangan report. An area of over 20,668 sq km of the State has been declared as ESA. A total of 1,576 villages in the districts of Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Mysuru, Hassan, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Belagavi have been identified,” Mr. Khandre said.

He said that the State government has already taken the decision to reject the report. With regard to the fresh notification issued by the Centre, he said a decision will be taken after consultation with the Chief Minister and the Cabinet and after taking the opinion of the leaders of all parties.

On the high-level committee headed by IFS officer Sanjay Kumar (retd), which has been formed by the Centre to re-examine the suggestions of the States on declaring the region as ESA, Mr. Khandre said that the committee members met him formally. “However the committee members did not visit any village in the region or talk to the people to get feedback,” Mr. Khandre said.

The Minister also clarified that the State government issued an order saying that encroachment of forest land for livelihood will not be vacated if the combined land area and encroachment land does not exceed three acres.

Similarly, no house or land of those who have already applied under the Forest Rights Act will be vacated. However, he said that action will be taken in the case of encroachments which have occurred after 2015.