NEW DELHI: The Karnataka Assembly on September 22 unanimously adopted a resolution seeking a review and necessary modi¿cations to the Kasturirangan report on ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats.
The resolution was passed following a detailed discussion on the Union Environment and Forests Ministry’s seventh draft noti¿cation to implement the report prepared by a high-level working group led by former Isro chief K Kasturirangan, according to a report in The Indian Express.
The noti¿cation, issued in July 2026 following directions from the National Green Tribunal, proposed to designate 20,668 square kilometres in 10 Karnataka districts as ecologically sensitive areas. MLAs cutting across party lines have said the noti¿cation cannot be accepted in its present form.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said a physical survey was required to assess the true extent of the forests, adding that several legislators said the report was based merely on satellite data and was “unscienti¿c”.
“We are not anti-environment. We are nature lovers. But farmers should not be affected,” he said, adding that farmers, tribals, and families who have lived in the region for generations should not be aႇected,” he said.
Shivakumar said Karnataka would also seek a year to undertake the physical survey.
High-level committee
Taking a cue from neighbouring Kerala, the government also decided to form a high-level committee to monitor the survey. It also decided that an all-party delegation from the state would meet the prime minister and the environment minister over the issue.
Shivakumar said a retired Supreme Court judge would head the high-level committee.
“It will conduct physical surveys to scienti¿cally identify eco-sensitive areas, forests, agricultural and horticultural lands and inhabited areas. Committees will also be formed at the gram panchayat level, ” he said.
