Eco-sensitive zone notification will halt development:activist

The move to declare 100km area from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand as eco-sensitive zone would bring development activities in the area to a halt, a noted rights activist said today.
"The central government has forgotten that hydel projects of one lakh mega watt are underway in the region and declaring it eco-sensitive will stall all of them," Padmashree Avdhash Kaushal, who runs a leading NGO in the city, said in a statement.
Terming the move as "insensitive and irresponsible", he said the Centre's gazette notification in this regard will hit about 100 villages in the region.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 6. He had asked for the withdrawal of the notification declaring the area from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as eco-sensitive zone.

The notification would retard the development of the backward border area and deal a blow to tourism, he had said.