New Delhi, Oct 22 Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday urged the Centre not to finalise the July 27 draft notification declaring parts of the Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), based on the Kasturirangan report, until a state-constituted committee submits its findings in a year.
Shivakumar met Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and discussed the issue along with other pending state proposals.
Speaking to reporters later, he said the Union government had responded positively to the state’s requests and that he would submit the necessary documents within the next 15 days.
“They have responded positively to all my requests,” he said, adding that he had already provided all the reports sought by the Centre and that instructions had been issued to certain officials.
The draft is the Union Environment Ministry’s seventh attempt to notify ESA status for parts of the Western Ghats. It seeks to protect 56,825.7 sq km across six states, including 20,668 sq km in Karnataka.
In a representation to Yadav, the chief minister said he had already asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold off on the draft “until the report of the high-level committee constituted by the state government is submitted and the physical survey is completed in a year.”
He added that the Centre could take further steps in consultation with the state government.
Karnataka’s legislature has rejected the draft in its present form and sought physical surveys.
Shivakumar told reporters that the Centre had offered some suggestions on the Kasturirangan report.
A committee is currently working under Union officials. “I have instructed our officials to hold discussions with them, and I have also outlined how we might proceed thereafter,” he said.
Shivakumar also asked the Centre to consider removing Eco Cane Sugar Energy Ltd from the eco-sensitive zone, saying the unit does not fall within it.
Set up in 2016, the company employs over 500 workers, and around 5,000 families depend on the factory.
The chief minister said he had urged the Centre to reduce the designated coastal zone area, especially keeping tourism in mind, and to extend to Karnataka the provisions available in Kerala and Goa. The Centre, he said, assured him it would examine the request.
“They acknowledge the necessity for development and are well aware that this would be beneficial for our tourism policy,” he said.
According to Shivakumar, the Centre will send a letter and convene a meeting of ministers from the neighbouring states, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to discuss coastal and forest-related issues. Shivakumar said he confirmed that he would attend.
Shivakumar said he had also told Union officials that he would bring MPs from the Malenadu and coastal belt, covering North Kanara, South Kanara, Udupi and Shivamogga. “They agreed and said, ‘Come along’. They have promised to set aside time, so I will bring them one of these days,” he said.
The chief minister sought early wildlife clearances for the proposed Sharavathy Pumped Storage Project and the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir and Drinking Water Project.
On Mekedatu, Shivakumar said the state needed permission to drill borewells. The Centre raised some queries and asked for a Supreme Court order. “We have assured them that we will provide all the necessary documentation within two or three days,” he said.
On the Mahadayi river water dispute, Shivakumar said he was examining the legal aspects, particularly the steps required to withdraw the state’s current stance in the matter.
Shivakumar also called on Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at his residence and discussed the ITI land issue.
(PTI News)
