On 19th September, Karnataka’s Forest Minister, Shri Eshwar Khandre, chairing the consultative meeting of elected representatives from the 11 Western Ghats districts of Karnataka proposed the reduction of the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) as indicated in MOEF&CC’s 6th draft notification -ESA SO 3060(E) dated 31-07-2024 – from 20,668 sq km to 16,114 sp km. Further, suggesting that the residents within this area be offered a special economic package “for being affected by ESA status”, says the environmental group Parisarakkagi Naavu.
All representatives cutting across party lines added their reservations that ranged from being totally off the mark to bordering on absurdity in the consensus of citizens advocating protection to the Western Ghats for the past many decades starting with the Save Western Ghats March way back in 1989.
Shri Khandre’s suggestion of ESA status to 16,114 sq km covers areas already protected as Sanctuaries, National Parks etc. It is pertinent to note here that the mandated Ecologically Sensitive Zones around several such protected areas have not been designated as such to date and waste away on paper in government files while anthropological pressures continue to deteriorate the area.
Citizens of the Ghats as well as those from the rest of the State whose water security, rain, and ecosystem services depends on the integrity of the Ghats are beginning to question their own wisdom in choosing their elected representatives. These murmurs are getting louder by the day! An ostrich attitude adopted by politicians in this matter may prove detrimental to their career in the long run!
Projects and activities prohibited/ regulated/ banned in ESA
• Mining
• Thermal Power Plants
• Red Category –Polluting and Hazardous Industries
• Largescale Monoculture Plantations
• Buildings above 20,000 sq mt area
• Above 50 Hectare Townships with 1,50,000 sq mt and above built up area
• Hydro-Power Projects permitted with regulatory mechanisms in place
• None of the above adversely impact life and livelihood activities of ordinary citizens of the Western Ghats.
Western Ghats
• Water tower of peninsular India
• Climate gatekeeper and weather regulator for the entire sub-continent
• Responsible for southwest monsoons
• Impacts weather and rain in half the globe east of the ghats
• Stretches across six states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu – 1490 km length, 1,29,037 km area from River Tapi in the North to Kanyakumari in the South
• Supports food security and livelihoods of 250 million of our population
• Planet’s one of the 8 hottest hotspot for biodiversity and conservation –UNESCO
• Country’s largest natural carbon sink holding 1.23 million gigagrams (Gt) in its vegetation and soils with annual incremental carbon held upto 37.5 million tons
THREATS
• River Diversion Projects Thermal and Nuclear Power Plants
• Hydroelectric projects
• Mining and quarrying and sand mining
• Change in land use and agricultural patterns
• Forest loss: Karnataka lost 200 sq km of Western Ghats forest land between 2001- 2017
• Global warming induced change in rainfall patterns Landslides and Floods
• Unscientific road cutting and clearing forested areas for infra projects and for large private enterprises – resorts, farmhouse culture by urban elites
• Timber extraction and monoculture plantations for industrial needs
• Four and six laning of National Highways
• Expansion of Railways for coal transport
• Unregulated tourism
• Destruction of Myristica swamps and Ramsar sites
• Disregard for wildlife corridors leading to human-animal conflict
Whose interests and well-being do the elected representatives of the Ghats represent? Who and what is masterminding their political decisions? Why is the Forest Minister not taking cognisance of the voices from the ground? Why is sound science being rejected in spite of the disasters and tragedies unfolding year after year? Why has the Notification not been translated and published by the government to date? Why has the Kasturirangan report not been translated and circulated among the public till date? Why is fear psychosis, misinformation, and unfounded anxiety gripping our elected representatives which in turn is being transferred to ordinary people on the ground? How much more destruction and how many more human lives need to be lost before we wake up?
Such and more questions cropping up in the minds of Karnataka’s citizenry demand urgent honest answers!
Whose Interest is Being Served by Rejecting the Notification!
Parisarakkagi Naavu Members – Dileep Kamat, Sharada Gopal, Nitin Dhond, Nyla Coelho, Parashuramegowda, Mamatha Rai, Anjaneya Reddy R, Shobha Bhat, Parvathi Sriram, Mahesh Basapura