(Image source from: Twitter.com/ANI)

Central government after looking at the landslides that happened in Kerala, which took more than 300 lives, once again considered the draft notification of eco-sensitive areas of western ghats. On Friday, the center issued the sixth iteration of the draft notification to declare 56,825.7 sq km of the western ghats in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu as the eco-sensitive zone.

The previous draft which was released on July 6th, 2022 has lapsed, so they released a new draft on 2nd August 2024.

The proposed areas in the states are:

1) Gujarat with 449 sq km
2) Maharashtra with 17,340 sq km
3) Goa with 1,461 sq km
4) Karnataka 20,668 sq km
5) Tamil Nadu 6,914 sq km and
6) Kerala 9993.7 sq km

The center has asked the state governments to submit their objections on a draft in 60 days.

In March 2014, the first draft notification was issued based on the suggestions of the High-Level Working Group (HLWG), which was formed in 2012 by the central government, headed by the space scientist K Kasturirangan followed by the senior ecologist Madhav Gadhil as expert. In 2022 the center re-examined the report and issued the draft again.

This draft declares 36 percent of the western ghats as eco-sensitive areas. This draft will restrict commercial activities and also hold many restrictions around.

The villages in Wayanad, Periya, Thirunelli, Thondernad, Thrissilery, Kindaganad, Noolpuzha, Achooranam, Chundel, Kottappadi, Kunnathidavaka, Pozhuthana, Thariyod and Vellarimala are under this ecologically sensitive area.

The western Ghats are the west coast of India with the origin of Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, and other rivers. 1500 km of the Ghat extends with the Tapti River in the north of Kanyakumari and with an average elevation with the other six states.
In this eco-sensitive area, activities like construction of new thermal plants are banned and even the industries will fall under the red category, where they are not allowed for expansion.

In Detail:

- Red Category for Industries, where they are not allowed for expansion and can also be banned as specified by the Central Pollution Control Board. Even the healthcare industries fall under the red category and should follow the rules and regulations.
- No Thermal Projects
- No Expansion of Plats
- No extension of Mining lease
- All existing mines should be phased out in five years
- Building construction in area up to 20000 sq m
- Area Development projects with an area of 50 hectors shall be prohibited
- New Hydropower Projects can be allowed

The provisions of the Ecologically Sensitive Area will not affect the ownership of the property.