Western Ghats ESA: Mapping in Kodagu and Udupi Shows Most Proposed Area Is Already Protected
A citizen-led group, the Paani Earth Foundation, mapped the villages proposed as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in two Karnataka districts, Kodagu and Udupi. It used village boundary maps from the Karnataka Geographical Information System (KGIS).
It compared these villages with three layers of protection that already exist: Notified Forests, Protected Areas (national parks and sanctuaries) and existing Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs).
Kodagu: 54 villages are proposed as ESA. About 70.8% of this area already overlaps with the three existing layers; about 30% lies outside them.
Udupi: 35 villages are proposed as ESA. About 82% already overlaps with the existing layers; about 18% lies outside them. The area feeds west-flowing rivers like the Sita, Chakra and Varahi.
The study says that putting a village in the ESA does not turn private land into forest land. The 7th draft notification (issued on July 27, 2026) says there will be no displacement, farming and plantations will not be affected, and houses can be repaired. What is banned is mining, quarrying, sand mining, new thermal power plants, new Red-category industries and very large building projects.
On September 22, 2026, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the draft in its present form. The state wants only forest areas in the ESA, not farms, plantations or settlements.
Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs)
An Eco-Sensitive Zone, or ESZ, is a belt of land around a national park or a wildlife sanctuary where harmful activities are controlled. Think of it as a shock absorber or a protective cushion around a protected forest. People can still live, farm and work inside an ESZ. But activities that can damage the protected area next door, like mining or polluting factories, are banned or regulated there.
The Kodagu and Udupi mapping found that much of the proposed Western Ghats ESA already falls inside existing ESZs, Notified Forests or Protected Areas. This means many of the restrictions people fear are already in force there. The study also stresses that, like an ESZ, an ESA does not change who owns the land.
Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
An Ecologically Sensitive Area is a region that the Central Government marks out as fragile and valuable for nature, such as a mountain range that feeds many rivers. Inside it, the most harmful activities like mining, quarrying and highly polluting industries are banned or tightly controlled. People can still live there, farm and repair their houses. The power to notify an ESA comes from Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The mapping in Kodagu and Udupi shows that the ESA is a layer of rules on top of the land, not a change of land ownership. Most of the proposed ESA area in the two districts is already protected under other laws, so the new layer mainly adds bans on mining, big industry and very large construction.
The Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committees on Western Ghats Conservation
India set up two expert groups to decide how to protect the Western Ghats. The first, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, reported in 2011 and treated the whole range as ecologically sensitive in three grades. Its plan was seen as too strict by several states. The second, the High Level Working Group (HLWG) led by space scientist K. Kasturirangan, reported in 2013 and proposed a much smaller area as ESA. Today's draft ESA villages come from the Kasturirangan report.
The citizen report clarifies that the ESA notification is not the same as the whole Kasturirangan report. It takes the village list and some restrictions from the report, but leaves out the incentives and community benefits the report had recommended.
- Districts mapped: Kodagu and Udupi (Karnataka), using KGIS administrative boundary layers
- Kodagu: 54 villages proposed as ESA; about 70.8% overlaps with Notified Forests, Protected Areas or existing ESZs; about 30% outside
- Udupi: 35 villages proposed as ESA; about 82% overlaps; about 18% outside
- Kodagu streams feed the Cauvery (east) and the Kumaradhara, Payaswini and Barapole/Valapattanam systems (west, to the Arabian Sea)
- Udupi streams feed the Sita, Chakra and Varahi river systems
- 7th draft Western Ghats ESA notification: 27 July 2026; about 56,825.7 sq km; six states
- Karnataka share: about 20,668 sq km, about 1,449 villages, 10 districts
- Karnataka Assembly resolution rejecting the draft in present form: 22 September 2026
- Kasturirangan HLWG report: 2013; about 37% of the Western Ghats proposed as ESA
- ESZ guidelines: 9 February 2011; Supreme Court 1 km ESZ order: 3 June 2022, modified 26 April 2023