K'taka govt committed to implementing Kasturirangan panel report

'It involves 11 districts and lives of lakhs of people...The government is very serious about the Kasturirangan report," state Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said.

Karnataka Environment and Forests Minister Eshwar Khandre on Saturday said the state government is committed to the implementation of the Kasturirangan Committee report on preservation and protection of the Western Ghats and it's biosphere in consultation with neighbouring states and the Central government.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Interspecies Conclave, hosted by Atria University, in partnership with Swissnex and Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he reiterated that the second committee headed by Sanjay Kumar is expected to submit a report by December and based on which, the government will further deliberate.

Addressing the gathering, the Minister said the Kasturirangan Committee report has languished for the last 10 years and before that the Gadgil committee report also faced similar fate and that Karnataka, in consultation with six other neighbouring states and the central government, will implement the Kasturirangan report.

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The Minister said Karnataka commands a major share of the Western Ghats and over 11 districts fall in its geographical area. The interests of people in these districts and people residing in hilly regions need to be protected.

"The Kasturirangan report came in 2013 and it has been under consideration since then. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed. It involves 11 districts and lives of lakhs of people...The Karnataka government is very serious about it (Kasturirangan report). We have been protecting biodiversity," he said.

"The notification and implementation part of the Kasturirangan report is to be taken at the highest level in the sense that the government of Karnataka, the government of India, the Chief Minister and Prime Minister has to take a call on this because six states are involved in it. All of them have to come together and decide regarding this. Finality is coming and the committee headed by Sanjay Kumar will submit their report most probably by the end of this year and it may be finalised," he added.

Citing the Forest Conservation Act, Biological Diversity Act, Wildlife Protection Act and Environment Protection Act, the minister said that India has good laws but the question is if we are implementing these acts strictly.

"Another thing is we are lagging in awareness. That is a reason why the Kasturirangan report has not been implemented till today. There is a lot of pressure. We discuss it (report) in the Assembly, in Parliament and we have also formed committees and are after the committees to get the report. All these issues are there and it may take some time," he added.

Dwelling at length on conservation, technology and education, he said there is an immediate need to introduce curricula right from primary school to degree levels on protection of biodiversity and endangered species.

"We have to still educate people, we have to make awareness amongst the people to conserve forest, environment, biodiversity and protect all the species to maintain this ecosystem. Protection of species is very important and along with this we have to include this in the curriculum from primary to the higher level that is also very important. In Fact with the support of experts, we have to introduce and implement it," he said.

Stressing that his government is committed to conserving biodiversity, he cited that the number of tigers in the state has increased in the past years. The camera traps have shown that the state currently has 435 tigers.

Besides making laws, he recommended that the government needs to create awareness among people on the importance of protection of wildlife and environment. He said the forest committees in the village panchayats, anganwadis and school children could be roped in for awareness campaigns.

He interacted with Jonathan Ledgard, founder of the Interspecies Money Group, who gave an engaging talk on environmental degradation issues across the globe and how we can overcome them and also appreciated the efforts of Atria University in highlighting the importance of using technology to solve conservation issues.