Western Ghats ESA row: Activists rebut politicians' claims on Kasturirangan report

The debate over conservation of the Western Ghats in Karnataka is far from settled. A section of residents in the hill districts and environmentalists have challenged claims made by ministers and legislators about the Kasturirangan report, calling them "misleading" and urging people to read the document for themselves.

On September 22, the Karnataka Legislature adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to confine the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) identified in the report to notified forest areas alone. Those who back the resolution say that applying ESA rules to land outside notified forests would hurt farmers, prevent house construction and disrupt everyday activities such as drying agricultural produce. Environmental groups dispute this reading of the report.

Environmentalist Akhilesh Chipli, based in Sagara taluk, said copies of the draft ESA notification had been printed in Kannada so that the public could read its provisions directly. "This issue has been politicised for votes, irrespective of party affiliations. They are trying to protect illegal properties," he alleged.

Arguing in favour of the ESA, he said more than 80% of the area identified in the report already enjoys some form of protection, but the remainder needs legal cover. "In Sagara, for example, a 2,000-acre nuclear power project was proposed a few months ago in Besuru village of Avinahalli hobli. There is no reserve or protected forest here, but it includes the Sharavathi backwaters. By default, it falls under the ESA, which means red-category projects will not be allowed there. There are nearly 4,000 sq. km of such areas in the Western Ghats of Karnataka that do not enjoy legal protection. Don't they need protection too?" he asked.

Col. (Retd.) C.P. Muthanna, coordinator of the Save Kodagu and Cauvery Campaign, said politicians had lost sight of why the report was prepared. "It began with the Gadgil report and was later diluted into the Kasturirangan report. The need is simple. The entire Western Ghats, from Gujarat to Kerala, is a catchment for peninsular India. It is essential for water security," he said. "The reality is that there is a lot of money to be made in destruction and construction. These hills have potential for mining, which the ESA seeks to curb."

He said there should be no commercial activity in the catchment area, and that protecting only part of Kodagu would serve little purpose since the entire district feeds the Cauvery. He described as "misleading" claims that the report would stop people from building houses or drying agricultural produce in their yards.

H.A. Kishor, an environmental activist from Hassan, said the Kasturirangan report may not be foolproof but is "desperately needed" to protect what remains of the Western Ghats. "It is the water tank of South India," he said. In Malnad, human-animal conflict has increased because of habitat and corridor destruction in the name of development, including hydel and river diversion projects, he added. People argue that several legal frameworks already exist, he said, but their implementation has failed.

Mr. Kishor alleged that the mining and timber mafia were using farmers as a front to oppose such protections. At the same time, he acknowledged that the concerns of genuine farmers stem from the fact that many who cultivate revenue land within the proposed ESA do not possess the required documents, such as hakku patras. Some also fear that land values in Malnad will decline because of the protections.

The Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage site, runs parallel to India's western coast across six states. In 2011, a panel headed by Madhav Gadgil recommended graded protection for the entire range. A high-level working group headed by K. Kasturirangan, set up later, identified about 37% of the range as ecologically sensitive in its 2013 report. Successive draft notifications on the ESA have drawn objections from state governments and residents, and the Centre has repeatedly extended consultations. For now, both sides in Karnataka are pressing their case — one through the legislature, the other through pamphlets and public meetings.