Editorial: Guardian of the Ghats

Earlier this month, in the aftermath of the massive landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad district, which claimed over 300 lives, the Centre released a sixth draft notification proposing the earmarking of 56,825 sq km as as ecologically sensitive area (ESA) to prohibit or regulate environmentally hazardous human activity within the fragile Western Ghats region, which is spread over six states. The proposed ESA includes 9,993 sq km in Kerala, which comprises 13 villages in two taluks of Wayanad district, including Noolpuzha which was affected by the July landslides. The proposal also encompasses 20,668 sq km in Karnataka; 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra; 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu; 1,461 sq km in Goa; and 449 sq km in Gujarat. The Western Ghats extend over a distance of 1,500 km, including protected areas and World Heritage Sites along the western coast.

The draft has proposed a total ban on mining, quarrying, sand mining and high polluting (Red category) industries. Per the draft, all existing mines will be phased out within five years from the date of issue of final notification, or expiry of the existing mining lease (whichever is earlier). The setting up of new thermal power projects and expansion of existing power plants within the ESA has also been prohibited. Interestingly, the draft specifies that agriculture, plantation and less polluting activities will not get affected due to the ESA provisions.

The requirement for a sixth draft came up as states had failed to agree on earmarking ESA within their respective jurisdiction in the Western Ghats, despite five draft notifications by the Centre since March 2014. This had left ecologically fragile regions unprotected. The last time the draft was issued (the fifth edition) was in July 2022. It might be recalled that the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel fronted by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, which was tasked with examining the degree of protection needed in the Western Ghats had suggested in 2011 that the entire region spanning 1.29 lakh sq km be declared as ecologically sensitive.

After consultation with the residents, industrialists, and government officials, the Gadgil panel mooted the creation of three broad zones – ESA 1, ESA 2, and ESA 3, with the first two being subjected to stricter restrictions on economic activities. When landslides hit the ecologically vulnerable region of Wayanad, the episode served up a bitter reminder of the failure of successive governments in notifying the Western Ghats as an ESA, a prerequisite to the preservation of the terrain through ban on environmentally hazardous human activities. Following the tragedy, experts had highlighted the presence of resorts, artificial lakes and commercial constructions in this highly-sensitive region, where ideally no development should have taken place.

The importance of seeing eye to eye on this issue cannot be overstated. The whole of the Western Ghats happens to be the second most landslide prone region in the country, after the Himalayas. The absence of ESA cover has snowballed into the continuum of several environmentally hazardous human activities – such as massive deforestation for mining and construction over several decades. This in turn has resulted in loosening of soil as well as depletion of hillside stability, which were zeroed in as the main reasons for landslides in the event of extremely heavy rainfall, like what was witnessed in Kerala. The sixth draft offers another opportunity, maybe the last one, if we are lucky, to work towards building a consensus that has eluded this zone for the past one decade.