Bengaluru, September 21: Conservation of the Western Ghats should not come at the cost of the livelihoods of people who have lived in the region for generations, Karnataka Legislative Council member and KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad said on Monday, urging the State government to adopt a scientific, ground-level approach before implementing environmentally sensitive zone regulations.
Speaking during the Legislative Council discussion on the Kasturirangan and Gadgil reports, Mr. Hariprasad argued that applying a uniform regulatory framework across the entire Western Ghats would be impractical and scientifically unsound. Instead, he called for stringent conservation measures to be confined to dense forest areas while safeguarding the interests of farmers, plantation owners, and forest-dependent communities.
He urged the State government to constitute an expert committee on the lines of Kerala to conduct a comprehensive field survey based on revenue records, village boundaries, land-use patterns, and ground realities before submitting its recommendations to the Union government.
Mr. Hariprasad said the proposed eco-sensitive zone notification has caused concern across six States stretching from Gujarat to Kerala. In Karnataka alone, he noted, 1,576 villages spread across 10 districts, covering about 20,668 sq. km, are likely to be affected.
According to him, the villages proposed to fall within the notified area include 566 in Uttara Kannada, 446 in Shivamogga, 137 in Chikkamagaluru, 62 in Belagavi, 53 in Kodagu, 48 in Mysuru, 43 in Dakshina Kannada, 34 in Udupi, 30 in Hassan, and 20 in Chamarajanagar.
Questioning the methodology adopted for mapping eco-sensitive areas, Mr. Hariprasad said satellite imagery alone cannot distinguish between dense forests, agricultural land, plantations, and long-established human settlements. He contended that the absence of accurate survey boundaries and village-level verification had resulted in several inhabited and cultivated areas being classified alongside forests.
He cautioned that such classifications could adversely affect land values, limit access to institutional credit, and delay infrastructure projects such as roads and public utilities. He also expressed concern that prolonged rehabilitation issues, similar to those experienced by families displaced by the Sharavathi project, should not be repeated.
Calling for clarity from the government, Mr. Hariprasad said farmers and plantation owners should be explicitly assured that agriculture and horticulture activities would not be prohibited under the proposed framework.
He also opposed any expansion of the Kaiga Nuclear Power Station or the establishment of new nuclear facilities in the ecologically sensitive region, arguing that environmental and public safety considerations should take precedence.
Referring to the Forest Rights Act, he stressed that the rights of forest-dwelling communities must be fully protected and warned that any attempt to displace local residents could trigger widespread public protests.
On tourism, Mr. Hariprasad advocated stricter regulation of large commercial resorts while protecting homestays and other small-scale tourism ventures operated by local residents, saying these provide sustainable livelihoods without causing significant ecological damage.
He further maintained that local communities have historically played a vital role in conserving forests and called for stringent action against illegal timber smuggling, environmentally destructive mining, and other activities that threaten the fragile ecosystem.
“The Western Ghats are the source of several major river systems, including the Krishna, Cauvery, Godavari and Narmada, making their conservation indispensable. However, environmental protection should not undermine the lives and livelihoods of farmers, forest dwellers and other communities that have coexisted with these ecosystems for centuries,” Mr. Hariprasad said.
He urged the State government to complete a revenue-based field survey before the Union government issues its final notification, impose a complete ban on environmentally destructive mining activities, continue the night traffic restrictions through Bandipur, and ensure that future development decisions are based on local realities while maintaining ecological sustainability.
