Centre extends deadline for states' reports on WG

The Centre has extended by two months the deadline to complete the “ground truthing” exercise of eco-sensitive areas (ESA) across the six states lined by the Western Ghats.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said some state governments had expressed inability to carry out the ground verification of the ESA, identified using satellite imagery, due to the monsoon season.

Environmentalist Madhav Gadgil, former member of the Planning Commission, had used satellite imaging to map the eco-sensitive areas. “Now we have to visit all these areas to assess the satellite data,” Javadekar said, adding that the state governments have been tasked with the assessment and would send a report to the Centre.

Except Kerala, none of these states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat – had responded to the missive issued by the Centre two months ago.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests had asked the states to corroborate the village-level findings of the Kasturirangan Committee report.