Gadgil Committee (2011) vs Kasturirangan Committee (2013)
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (Gadgil Committee) and the High-Level Working Group (Kasturirangan Committee) are the two foundational reports behind the ESA proposal, and UPSC frequently tests the differences between them.
- Gadgil Committee (chaired by Madhav Gadgil): submitted its report on 31 January 2011; recommended the entire Western Ghats be treated as an ESA, divided into ESZ-1, ESZ-2 and ESZ-3 zones with graded restrictions, governed bottom-up through gram sabhas, and proposed a statutory Western Ghats Ecology Authority under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- Kasturirangan Committee (a high-level working group set up to review the Gadgil report): submitted its report on 15 April 2013; recommended a smaller ESA of about 59,940 sq km — roughly 37% of the total Western Ghats area of about 1.64 lakh sq km, spread across 11 districts — with a more top-down, boundary-based approach rather than zone-wise gram sabha governance
- The current draft notifications (proposing ~56,800 sq km) are based on the Kasturirangan approach, not the more restrictive Gadgil recommendations
● Tracked since July 28, 2026 · last seen August 01, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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