The Kasturirangan Report on the Conservation of Western Ghats

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Key takeaways

The Karnataka Legislature unanimously rejected the Centre's seventh draft notification on the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
The High-Level Working Group (HLWG) led by Dr. K. Kasturirangan submitted its report in April 2013 after review by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
The report recommends designating roughly 60,000 sq. km or 37% of the total Western Ghats region as an Ecologically Sensitive Area.
The region spans 1,64,280 km2 across 188 talukas in six riparian states along a 1,500 km stretch.

The Karnataka Legislature unanimously rejected the Centre's seventh draft notification on the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in its current form.
State lawmakers want to restrict the ESA strictly to notified forests.
Authorities are demanding a cadastral survey before finalizing any boundary demarcation.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) formed the 10-member High-Level Working Group (HLWG) in April 2013 under the leadership of former Planning Commission member Dr. K. Kasturirangan.
This committee reviewed the earlier Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report to find a balanced roadmap that combines environmental protection with regional economic growth.

The committee mapped 188 talukas across six riparian states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
The region covers 1,64,280 km2 along a 1,500 km stretch running from the Tapti River to Kanyakumari.
The report divided the region into natural landscapes covering 41% of the area and human-dominated cultural landscapes covering 59% and home to roughly 50 million people.
Experts recommended designating ~60,000 sq. km or roughly 37% of the total Western Ghats region as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
This 37% area represents about 90% of the continuous natural landscape.
The mapping used a fine spatial resolution of 24 metres with IRS LISS-III satellite vegetation layers and landscape fragmentation indices.
The revenue village serves as the primary administrative unit for this demarcation.
Unlike the Gadgil committee's uniform zonation, this report targets only highly destructive activities within the 37% ESA.
The report suggested economic incentives like debt-for-nature swaps, a dedicated Western Ghats Sustainable Development Fund, and payments for ecosystem services.
A joint geospatial monitoring center managed by all six states was proposed to track ecological shifts and downscale climate models.
Local Gram Sabhas must provide prior informed consent and a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for all future development projects under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

The report demands a total ban on new mining, quarrying, and sand mining inside the ESA, phasing out existing leases within five years or upon expiry.
New thermal power plants are completely banned.
Run-of-the-river hydropower projects need strict impact assessments, a minimum 3 km distance between projects, a river-basin impact limit under 50%, and at least 30% seasonal ecological flow.
Heavy polluting Red category industries face a strict ban, while Orange category food and processing units are allowed under regulations to support local livelihoods.
New townships and large construction projects of 20,000 sq. metres and above are strictly prohibited.
Other permissible infrastructure must secure strict Environmental Clearance under Category A of the EIA Notification 2006.
Projects within a 10 km buffer of the ESA boundary must also follow these environmental norms.

Using satellite data without ground verification created anomalies where entire revenue villages became restricted zones if about 20% of their area had canopy cover.
Farming communities and plantation owners fear that restrictions will stop property divisions, halt agricultural land-use changes, and trigger evictions.
Issuing seven draft notifications since 2014 without final statutory rules creates long-term administrative uncertainty.
Confining the ESA strictly to notified reserve forests leaves out crucial wildlife corridors, sacred groves, and private shola-grassland patches.

State Forest and Revenue Departments should form joint task forces to physically map ESA boundaries down to individual property survey numbers.
Neighboring states can follow Kerala's verification model to identify non-forest cultural areas and submit survey-backed data to the MoEFCC.
Instead of an all-or-nothing approach, authorities should introduce a tiered regulatory system with strict protection for core forests and relaxed rules for buffer farmlands.
The government should operationalize payments for ecosystem services to provide direct financial support to farmers shifting to organic farming and agroforestry.