Karnataka to reject Centre’s fresh draft notification on Eco-Sensitive Area in Western Ghats

As the draft notification had not specifically banned activities like farming, karnataka to reject Centre's fresh draft notification on Eco-Sensitive Area in Western Ghats Reddy notes there was no need to evict anyone from the ESA area.

Key points

• The proposed ESA in Karnataka covered 10 districts – Mysuru, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Belagavi, and Chikkamagaluru.
• Based on such a report, the Union Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forestry had issued six draft notifications seeking to declare the ESA.
• According to The Minister, there was a 60-day deadline for States to file objections to the draft notification from its date of publication.
• Seeking to allay the immediate fears of individuals from the Western Ghats region, Mr.
• While stating that the latest draft was being examined at the administration level, the Minister declared that the administration would inform the Centre regarding rejecting it.

For context, the Karnataka administration on Thursday informed the Legislative Assembly that it would reject the latest draft notification issued by the Centre proposing the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) that would cover a 20, 668 square kilometre area spread throughout 1, 449 villages in the State.

After members cutting throughout party affiliations in the Assembly described it as "a death knell" for farmers and individuals of the Western Ghats, forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Ramalinga Reddy confirmed the decision to reject the latest draft issued on July 27, 2026.

In practice, the Minister explained to the House that the high-level committee led by scientist K. Kasthurirangan, which had been constituted by the Centre to recommend measures to protect the Ecologically Sensitive Western Ghats, had submitted its report in 2013. In the report, it was recommended that 56, 000 square km of area spread throughout six States, including 20, 668 square km of Karnataka, be declared as ESA.

Based on such a report, the Union Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forestry had issued six draft notifications seeking to declare the ESA. As the earlier draft had lapsed without being finalised, nevertheless, the seventh draft notification had now been issued.

Mr. Reddy remarked the draft notification had banned activities that affect the environment, such as mining, quarrying, sand mining, construction activities, and development of townships in the ESA, subject to a certain limit.

Meanwhile, the proposed ESA in Karnataka covered 10 districts – Mysuru, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Belagavi, and Chikkamagaluru. A total of 1, 449 villages, coming under 39 taluks of these districts, had been identified as covering ESA, he remarked.

Seeking to allay the immediate fears of individuals from the Western Ghats region, Mr. As the draft notification had not specifically banned activities like farming, reddy remarked there was no need to evict anyone from the ESA area. The daily life of individuals in those areas would not be affected, he maintained.

He remarked with respect to the earlier drafts, the State Cabinet had conveyed to the Centre its stand of rejecting them whenever such draft notifications had been issued. This stand had been taken since the ESA identified by the Kasthurirangan report/draft notification was within the areas that had already been declared as reserved forests by the State, notified forest or Ecologically Sensitive Zones. Imposing further restrictions in these areas would affect conservation activities too, he observed.

In short, karnataka to reject Centre's fresh draft notification on Eco-Sensitive Area in Western is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.