'Identify eco-sensitive areas in W Ghats'

Noting that the recent floods in Kodagu and Kerala have raised alarm bells, a parliamentary committee has suggested the state governments concerned to take immediate steps for identification of ecological sensitive areas (ESAs) in Western Ghats as per the recommendations of the K Kasturirangan panel.

“The recent floods in Kerala and parts of Karnataka rang alarming bells for six states (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat) to show urgency in taking steps towards recognising ESAs,” said the report of the parliamentary committee on government assurances.

“The committee is of the view that the implementation of the recommendations of the Kasturirangan report is possible only with active support of the local population and requires intrinsic consultation with the state governments at the micro level to achieve the desired objectives of saving the Western Ghats,” the report tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament
said.

The panel headed by BSP Rajya Sabha member Satish Chandra Misra also recommended that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests should constitute a committee to address the issues and grievances of local people after rectifying the human errors made while notifying the villages under ESAs. The panel made these suggestions in response to the state government expressing its inability to implement the Kasturirangan report, saying it faces resistance from local residents.

The state government informed the panel that enforcement of the Forest and Wildlife Acts along with Environment Protection Act and associated prohibitions, restrictions and regulations had slowed down development activities in the region.

“The local population was voicing the grievance that it had been made to sacrifice their livelihood opportunities for the sake of the nation without adequate compensation for the opportunities lost. Because of this, the, the state government is of the strong view that implementation of the Kasturirangan report may result in anti-conservation attitude in the local populace and prove counter-productive,” Karnataka
said.

The government informed the panel that it had taken steps to notify ecologically fragile landscapes like reserve forests. Besides, measures had been taken to identify the probable hotspots and declare them as protected area network in the form of national parks and sanctuaries, the government informed the
panel.