Karnataka to reject Centre’s fresh draft notification on Eco-Sensitive Area in Western Ghats
The Karnataka state government announced it will reject the Centre's latest draft notification proposing to declare parts of the Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA)
State authorities clarified that the current draft does not explicitly mandate eviction of residents from the proposed ESA, nor does it impose a blanket ban on farming activity within the zone
The Union Environment Ministry's latest draft proposes about 56,825 sq. km of Western Ghats territory across six states as ESA, of which roughly 20,668 sq. km falls within Karnataka — the largest single-state share
This is part of a series of draft notifications on the same subject issued and re-issued by the Centre since 2018, none of which has yet been finalised due to sustained state-level opposition
Ecologically Sensitive Areas and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
An Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) is a zone notified by the Central Government to regulate or restrict activities that could degrade fragile ecosystems, typically drawn around protected areas or ecologically significant regions. ESAs are a regulatory tool distinct from formally protected areas (national parks, sanctuaries) — they permit regulated human activity rather than imposing the stricter prohibitions of wildlife law.
Key Details
- ESAs are notified under Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with Section 5 of the Act, which empowers the Central Government to restrict areas for industrial or other activities and issue binding directions
- The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 provide the procedural framework for how such notifications are drafted, published in draft form for public objections, and finalised
- Once finalised, an ESA notification typically restricts new mining, red-category industries, large hydro projects, and other high-impact activities inside the notified zone
The current dispute concerns exactly this notify-and-object process — the Centre has repeatedly issued draft ESA notifications for the Western Ghats under this statutory framework, and Karnataka's objection is a formal state-level response within that same process, using the public consultation window the Rules provide.
The Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committees — Two Competing Conservation Frameworks
Following large-scale environmental degradation concerns in the Western Ghats, the Union government constituted two successive expert panels to recommend how much of the region should be brought under ecological protection, producing sharply different prescriptions.
Key Details
- The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (Gadgil Committee), which submitted its report in 2011, recommended treating roughly 64% of the Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive with strict restrictions on mining, quarrying and polluting industries
- The High-Level Working Group (Kasturirangan Committee), constituted after opposition to the Gadgil report and submitting its findings in 2013, scaled this down to about 37% of the Western Ghats (roughly 60,000 sq. km) recommended as ESA, focusing restrictions on mining, quarrying, red-category industries and large infrastructure rather than banning agriculture or existing habitations outright
- Every Central ESA draft notification since 2018 (Karnataka's news references the latest, a seventh iteration) has been based substantially on the Kasturirangan Committee's more moderate recommendations, not the stricter Gadgil report
Karnataka's continued rejection, despite the draft's moderated Kasturirangan-based approach and clarification that farming is not banned, illustrates the persistent friction between Central conservation mandates and state-level concerns over livelihoods, local government consultation, and compensation for affected communities.
Cooperative Federalism in Environmental Regulation
Environment and forests fall under the Concurrent List (List III) of the Seventh Schedule, meaning both Parliament and state legislatures can legislate on the subject, but Union law prevails in case of conflict under Article 254. In practice, however, implementation of Central environmental notifications like ESAs depends heavily on state cooperation, since land use, agriculture and law and order remain state subjects.
Key Details
- "Forests" and "protection of wild animals and birds" are Entry 17A and 17B of the Concurrent List (added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976), while "environment" as a broader subject is read into this along with residual Central powers
- Article 254 gives Union law primacy over a repugnant state law on a Concurrent List subject, but the Centre has instead chosen a consultative draft-notification route (public objections, state government responses) for the ESA rather than a direct top-down mandate
- Multiple rounds of draft notifications since 2018 without finalisation reflect the practical limits of Central environmental authority absent state buy-in, even where the Centre holds the stronger constitutional hand
Karnataka's rejection is possible only because the Centre has kept the ESA notification in draft/consultative form; the repeated redrafting cycle (this is at least the seventh draft) shows Union environmental policy in this instance operating through negotiation rather than unilateral central assertion of its Concurrent List primacy.
- Latest Western Ghats ESA draft notification: approximately 56,825 sq. km across six states (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat)
- Karnataka's proposed ESA share: approximately 20,668 sq. km — the largest among the six states
- Gadgil Committee (2011): recommended ~64% of Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive
- Kasturirangan Committee (2013): scaled recommendation down to ~37% (~60,000 sq. km) of Western Ghats as ESA
- Legal basis: Section 3(2)(v) read with Section 5, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- "Forests" and wildlife protection: Entries 17A and 17B, Concurrent List, added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976