NGT gives 6 months to govt to finalise Western Ghats ESA notification

The National Green Tribunal has given six more months time to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to finalise the notification of eco-sensitive areas (ESA)s in the Western Ghats.

The Principal Bench of the NGT headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that no status report is available on the pending notification of eco-sensitive zones. “The MoEF may finalise the matter at the earliest but not later than six months,” said the Bench.

The bench passed this order giving a fresh deadline to the MoEF after hearing a Goa Foundation petition against repeated delays in finalising the matter.

“There is demand for more and more exclusion by those who claim the need for ‘development’ while need for ‘environment protection’ does not allow acceptance of such demands. This aspect needs to be finalised and has been pending consideration for the last about eight years, ”the Bench said in its order.

The Tribunal observed that continued delay could not be appreciated and expeditious steps are required in the matter in the interest of the protection of the environment.

Earlier, the NGT had set December 31, 2020, for the Union environment ministry to finalise the notification of eco-sensitive zones in the Western Ghats pending for several years.

In 2011, a panel set up by the MoEF headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil recommended that 1,29,037 sq km in the Western Ghats be notified as eco-sensitive and protected. However, another K Kasturirangan-led panel set up in 2012, reduced the proposed area for notification to 56,825 sq km. The states now seek to reduce it further to 50,805 sq km.

The NGT earlier on August 24, 2018, also directed that “no changes be made to reduce the area of Eco-Sensitive Zone without the same being considered by this Tribunal”.

In December 2020, the MoEF sought more time to finalise the notification as due to Covid-19, states falling under the Western Ghats are yet to submit their pleas on the removal of certain areas and including some areas.

The Centre set up the panel in 2010 saying the Western Ghats is a global biodiversity hotspot and needed to be conserved. It formed another committee under K Kasturirangan in 2012 following opposition from states to the Gadgil panel’s recommendations. Kasturirangan panel submitted its report in 2013 which also faced opposition from several states where Western Ghats falls.

The MoEF had submitted that states have demanded to reduce the eco-sensitive area as they are concerned about “prohibition of certain activities having implications on medical care, health care and education”.

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