NEW DELHI, October 9 — The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on Friday gazetted an updated draft notification under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, earmarking 56,800 square kilometers across six peninsular states along the Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) to mitigate catastrophic climate hazards and unmitigated deforestation.
The designated buffer zone traverses Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Under statutory prohibitions outlined in the notification, complete moratoria will take effect on commercial mining, quarrying, coal-fired thermal power stations, heavy township constructions exceeding 20,000 square meters, and 'Red Category' polluting industrial enterprises. Existing agricultural practices, traditional plantation livelihoods, and non-polluting small cottage crafts remain fully safeguarded.
The regulatory intervention follows recurring climate disasters—notably deadly landslides in Kerala's Wayanad and northern Karnataka—compelling urgent institutional consensus. The Ministry has instituted a 60-day consultative window for riparian state cabinets and local village panchayats before issuing the final binding notification anchored on the Dr. K. Kasturirangan High-Level Working Group framework.
The ecological prominence of the Western Ghats (recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 and one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity), environmental jurisprudence under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, comparative evaluation of the Madhav Gadgil Committee (WGEEP 2011) versus Kasturirangan Committee (HLWG 2013) models, and landslide hazard zonation are vital themes across UPSC Civil Services (GS-I: Geography & GS-III: Environment and Disaster Management).