SALAR NEWS

Karnataka Assembly rejects Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats in its present form

The passed resolution said the inclusion of agricultural land, plantations, houses and public infrastructure along with forest areas under the ESA could create problems

PTI

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Chief Minister DK Shivakumar with others during the Assembly session at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Tuesday (SALAR)

Bengaluru, 22 Sept

The Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution rejecting the K Kasturirangan report on conservation of the Western Ghats in its present form.

The resolution, passed at the end of a special discussion on the report, urged the Centre to rectify the "deficiencies" in it.

Reading out the resolution in the House, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Western Ghats in Karnataka constituted an extremely important region in terms of the state's natural resources, biodiversity and ecological balance.

"On 27 July, 2026, the Government of India issued the seventh draft Environmentally Sensitive Area notification based on the Kasturirangan report, identifying approximately 20,668 square kilometres covering 1,449 villages in 10 districts of Karnataka under the ESA," the resolution said.

It said forest areas, agricultural lands, plantations and houses in the villages had also been brought under the proposed ESA, while the boundaries had been determined using satellite data without a joint physical survey.

The resolution said the inclusion of agricultural land, plantations, houses and public infrastructure along with forest areas under the ESA could create problems relating to house construction, division of family property and inheritance.

It said the draft notification did not have precise boundaries based on survey numbers as it was prepared using satellite data.

"There are pending issues concerning Bagair Hukum forest rights, deemed forests, land regularisation, appeals and judicial cases," the resolution said.

It said the Kasturirangan report had not proposed special economic assistance or alternative livelihood support for people affected by ESA restrictions.

The resolution said declaring an entire village as an ecologically sensitive area merely because one-fifth of it falls within forest limits was not a scientific procedure and had caused considerable discontent among the local population.

The Assembly urged the Centre to restrict the ESA to the forest areas specified in the notification and other forest areas, while excluding agricultural and horticultural lands, plantations, human settlements and areas used for public activities, except those already approved or sanctioned.

It urged the Centre to take into consideration issues relating to Bagair Hukum forest rights, deemed forests, land regularisation, appeals and judicial cases.

The state sought the constitution of an expert committee to physically measure and separately identify forest boundaries, human settlements, ecologically sensitive areas and agricultural areas on a survey-number basis.

It urged the Centre to formulate detailed guidelines for providing alternative livelihoods and economic assistance to farmers and workers affected by the ESA and constitute a high-level committee to rectify the deficiencies in the Kasturirangan report and suggest necessary modifications.

The resolution further proposed that the state government undertake physical measurement of survey numbers and requested the Centre to grant Karnataka one year's time to complete the exercise.

"After the state government submits its report, the Government of India should hold a detailed discussion with the state government on the issue and only thereafter take a final decision," the resolution said.

The seventh draft notification, issued by the union government on July 27, proposes to declare 56,000 square kilometres across six states as an Environmentally Sensitive Area, based on the Kasturirangan report. The draft allows 60 days for objections and suggestions.

In Karnataka, 20,668 square kilometres across 10 districts and 1,449 villages and 33 taluks have been identified under the proposed ESA. The districts are Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Hassan, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Udupi.

The state government has repeatedly opposed the implementation of the Kasturirangan recommendations, citing concerns over their impact on livelihoods and development in the affected areas.