Six states ask Centre to expedite notification of ecologically sensitive areas in Western Ghats

Six states, which form the Western Ghats, on Thursday asked Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to expedite the process to notify the ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) in the global biodiversity hotspot for clarity, an official said.

The chief ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu raised the issue during a video interaction with the Union minister.

"The states expressed their views as regards activities and extent of area mentioned in the said notification," the official said, adding they were unanimous about the need to protect the Western Ghats.

"It was decided that state specific issues shall be further deliberated so as to arrive at a consensus on the issue. The states expressed their desire to expedite the notification while protecting interest of ecology and environment," the official said.

A draft notification was issued in October 2018 mentioning the ESAs.

The Madhav Gadgil Commission, formed in 2010, recommended in its report submitted to the government in August 2011 that 64 per cent of the Western Ghats be declared ecologically sensitive.

However, in 2012, the Environment Ministry formed a working group on Western Ghats under Indian space scientist K Kasturirangan to examine the Gadgil Commission report and recommended 37 per cent of the Ghats be declared ESAs.

The committee recommended that identified geographical areas falling in the six states may be declared ecologically sensitive.