Karnataka Rejects the Western Ghats ESA Draft: Why the Kasturirangan Report Still Matters
On 22 September 2026, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the Kasturirangan Report on the Western Ghats "in its present form".
The resolution responds to the seventh draft notification on the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on 27 July 2026. For Karnataka, the draft covers about 20,668 sq km in 1,449 villages across 10 districts.
The state says the boundaries were drawn from satellite data without a physical survey on the ground. So farms, plantations, houses and public buildings were included along with forests.
The state objected to the rule that puts a whole village in the ESA if about one-fifth (20%) of it is ecologically sensitive. It called this unscientific.
Karnataka has asked the Centre for one year to do a plot-level (survey-number-wise) survey, through a committee led by a retired judge with revenue officials, farmer representatives and environment experts. It also wants farmland and settlements left out, and support for people whose livelihoods are affected.
Supporters of conservation point out that the Kasturirangan Report was already a softer version of the earlier Gadgil Report. They argue the state should fix the maps, not reject the whole idea of protecting ecologically sensitive areas.
Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
An Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) is a piece of land that the Central Government marks out as very fragile and very valuable for nature. Inside it, harmful activities like mining, quarrying or polluting factories are banned or strictly controlled. People can still live and farm there. The idea is not to lock nature away, but to stop the kind of damage that cannot be undone.
The Western Ghats ESA is proposed under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act. Because it is still only a draft, it has lapsed and been reissued several times. Karnataka's objection is about how the ESA boundaries were drawn, which is one of the main criticisms of the ESA process as a whole.
The Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committees on Western Ghats Conservation
India set up two expert groups, one after the other, to decide how to protect the Western Ghats. The first, led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, gave a strict plan in 2011 that treated the whole range as sensitive. The second, led by space scientist K. Kasturirangan, gave a softer plan in 2013 that protected about 37% of the range. Almost every debate on the Western Ghats today is a debate between these two reports.
The seventh draft notification of July 2026 is based on the Kasturirangan Report. Karnataka's Assembly has rejected it in its present form, mainly attacking the satellite mapping and the 20% village rule. Critics of the state's stand note that the Kasturirangan Report was itself a diluted version of the Gadgil Report.
Western Ghats: Geography and Ecological Significance
The Western Ghats are a long chain of hills and mountains that run along India's western coast, from Gujarat in the north to near Kanyakumari in the south. They are about 1,600 km long and pass through six states. They are older than the Himalayas and are among the richest places for plants and animals on Earth. They also bring rain to much of South India and feed its biggest rivers.
The Western Ghats ESA aims to protect this range, which is a World Heritage Site and a global hotspot. Karnataka holds the largest share of the proposed ESA (20,668 sq km), so its rejection is a major hurdle to protecting the range as a whole.
- Karnataka Assembly resolution rejecting the Kasturirangan Report "in its present form": 22 September 2026 (unanimous)
- Seventh draft Western Ghats ESA notification: 27 July 2026
- Karnataka's proposed ESA: about 20,668 sq km, 1,449 villages, 10 districts
- Karnataka's demand: one year for a plot-level (survey-number-wise) survey
- Total proposed Western Ghats ESA: about 56,825.7 sq km in 6 states
- Kasturirangan (HLWG) report: 15 April 2013; about 37% of the Ghats (nearly 60,000 sq km) as ESA; 4,156 villages
- Gadgil (WGEEP) report: 31 August 2011; the entire Western Ghats (about 1,29,037 sq km) as ESA
- Kasturirangan village rule: 20% or more ecologically sensitive area puts the whole village in the ESA
- Legal basis for ESAs: Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- Western Ghats: UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012 (39 component parts)