The Karnataka Cabinet, which met on Tuesday, accepted Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats partially. Though it agreed to stop mining in eco-sensitive areas, the Government has rejected the recommendation to stop quarrying and sand mining in Western Ghats.
In a Press briefing, law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandhra said, “We have accepted the recommendation to stop mining in Western Ghats but disagreed to stop quarrying and sand mining in the ecologically-sensitive Western Ghats.”Jayachandra told reporters that the Cabinet was informed about the recommendations of the Cabinet sub-committee, which was formed to study the Kasturirangan report. Taking into consideration the livelihood of locals, the Cabinet also decided to seek relaxation on sand and soil extraction and drinking water as well as mini-hydel power projects in the region.
He also said, “The State Cabinet had taken the decision as lack of sand supply had already crippled developmental and infrastructural activities across the State.”The Government is not against Kasturirangan report but against demarcation of ecologically-sensitive areas in the Western Ghats, the Minister said.“Instead of including 1,580 villages in ecologically-sensitive areas of the Western Ghats, the Cabinet has decided to include 850 villages,” he said.Jayachandra said the State is confident of convincing the Centre to delete those recommendations that would ‘adversely’ affect the people.
Meanwhile, an environmental activist told The Pioneer that cutting across the party line many leaders have put pressure on the Government not to accept Kasturirangan report as it would affect their business.He said, “Many leaders from the Western Ghats districts have opposed the report and pressurised the Government to not accept it. Many of them are directly involved in mining and quarrying”.
The High level Working Group (HlWG) on the Western Ghats headed by Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan submitted the report in October 2013. It had recommended a ban on development activities in 60,000 sq km ecologically-sensitive area spread over six states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The panel has called for a complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in the ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).
