MANGALORE: Though conservationists welcomed the directions issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) prohibiting mining and all Red category Industries within 4,089 villages in the Western Ghats across six South Western States, they have urged the government to prohibit any new large scale alteration or obstruction to natural flow of water.
The direction gives a clear definition for the term 'Western Ghats' which did not have a clear legal or administrative sanctity from the government till date. This will help environmentalists to approach various forums to fight against emerging threats to the ecologically sensitive area due to ill-planned development activities in the notified villages of the Western Ghats. 1,537 villages are notified as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) in the State of Karnataka which constitute 37.5% of the total villages notified across the Western Ghats Range,'' said Niren Jain, Co-ordinator, Kudremukh Wildlife Foundation.
Pointing out at the proposed River Diversion Projects like the Nethravathi River Diversion or Irrigation Projects within the notified villages of the Western Ghats, Jain said surprisingly, there was no effort to stop the destruction of the very source of the rivers from activities caused due to large scale manipulation/ exploitation of water, which is presently one of the biggest threat to the Western Ghats.
He said water as a resource should be tapped/ exploited only after it has naturally flowed downstream beyond the sensitive areas of the Western Ghats, the natural landscapes and natural water flow in the Western Ghats should be preserved with great care for our water security.
Jain said adopting of Dr Kasturirangan's report for a refined notification of Western Ghats at village level is commendable and is better than Prof Madhav Gadgil's report which had recommended a larger area of Taluk level for the notification which would have unnecessarily provoked the people living outside the Western Ghats but were falling within the same taluk. The present direction of Western Ghats by MoEF might need to be refined further to Survey Number level in the coming years for the directions to be implemented more practically,'' Jain observed.
The direction would mean that new highway projects will not be allowed through the Western Ghats as per the notification of red category Industries by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and also closes the option of converting the abandoned Kudremukh mining township for tourism purposes like three star and above category hotels, including hotels with 100 rooms and above will not be allowed to be established in the notified villages of Western Ghats in Karnataka State.
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