After Wayanad Tragedy, Centre Moves Draft to Declare 57,000 Sq Km of Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive | Exclusive

In the aftermath of the Wayanad tragedy, the Centre has issued a draft notification to declare around 57,000 square kilometer (sq km) of Western Ghats as an ‘ecologically-sensitive area’. The area includes 13 villages in Wayanad and around 10,000 sq km in the state of Kerala. News18 has exclusively accessed this detailed draft notification issued by the Centre on July 31, which proposed declaring nearly 36% of Western Ghats as eco-sensitive.

Citizens have been given 60 days to offer their comments to the Centre, following which the final notification will be published either state-wise or a combined order, the draft notification says. An area of 56,826 sq km in six states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Gujarat – is proposed to be declared ‘ecologically sensitive’, bringing in a host of restrictions on commercial activity here. This will include 9,994 sq km in Kerala, including 13 villages in Wayanad, the document says.

This is the sixth time the draft notification has been issued by the Centre. The last draft was issued in July 2022 and a committee was also constituted to finalise the notification in consultation with the state governments.

Rampant commercialisation and absence of the ‘ecologically sensitive area’ tag have been identified as the major reasons behind the Wayanad tragedy, in which close to 300 people have lost their lives. The villages in Wayanad proposed to be declared as eco-sensitive zone are Periya, Thirunelli, Thondernad, Thrissilery, Kidanganad, Noolpuzha, Achooranam, Chundel, Kottappadi, Kunnathidavaka, Pozhuthana, Thariyod and Vellarimala, as per the draft notification of the Centre.

The process to declare areas of the Western Ghats spread across six states as ecologically sensitive has been on since 2013 when a High-Level working Group had submitted its report. The activities which will be banned on the ‘ecologically-sensitive area’ will be mining (with existing mines phased out in five years), new thermal plants, industries in the ‘red category’, and all new and expansion projects of building and construction with built up area of 20,000 sq m, the notification says.

IMPORTANCE OF WESTERN GHATS

The Western Ghats are an important geological landform on the fringe of the west coast of India and are the origin of Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery and a number of other rivers. The Ghats extend over a distance of approximately 1500 km from Tapti river in the north to Kanyakumari in the south with an average elevation of more than 600 m and traverses through six states namely Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The High-Level Working Group was set up under the UPA tenure to find a way forward to prevent further degradation of the fragile ecology of Western Ghats, the document says.

The High-Level Working Group had submitted its report to the Centre on April 15, 2013, which was sent to the six states for their considered views on the report. The Group identified approximately 37% of the Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive, which covers an area of 59,940 sq km of natural landscape of Western Ghats. The Ecologically Sensitive Area recommended by the Kerala state government was spread over an area of 9,993.7 sq km, which includes 9,107 sq km of forest area and 886.7 sq km of non-forest area, compared to the 13,108 sq km recommended by the High-Level Working Group, the document says.

WHAT WILL THE BAN COVER?

There shall be a complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in Ecologically Sensitive Area and all existing mines shall be phased out within five years from the date of issue of the final notification or on the expiry of the existing mining lease, and whichever is earlier. No new thermal power projects and expansion of existing plants shall be allowed in the Ecologically Sensitive Area.

All new ‘red’ category of industries as specified by the Central Pollution Control Board or State Pollution Control Board and the expansion of such existing industries shall be banned and the list of ‘red’ category of industries shall be as specified by the Central Pollution Control Board. All existing ‘red’ category of industries including health care establishments shall continue in Ecologically Sensitive Area under the applicable rules and regulations.

All new and expansion projects of building and construction with built up area of 20,000 sq m and above and all new and expansion townships and area development projects with an area of 50 hectares and above or with built up area of 1,50,000 sq m and above shall be prohibited.

New Hydropower projects shall be allowed provided there is uninterrupted ecological flow of at least thirty percent of the rivers flow in lean season, till a comprehensive study establishes individual baselines for each project.

The provisions of this notification shall not affect the ownership of the property in the Ecologically Sensitive Area, the document says.

The state-wise area of Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area proposed by the Centre 449 sq km in Gujarat, 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra, 1461 sq km in Goa, 20,668 sq km in Karnataka, 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu and 9,993 sq km in Kerala.