Lok Sabha Question No. 6068 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-11
Subject: Activities in Western Ghats Zone
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: T.G. VENKATESH BABU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6068

TO BE ANSWERED ON  11.04.2017

## Activities in Western Ghats Zone

## 6068.     SHRI VENKATESH BABU T.G:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  Government  is  aware  that  Western  Ghats  Zone  is  being  affected  by mining, quarrying, big constructions, thermal power plants and certain other types of industries;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  extent  to  which  the  Western  Ghats  Zone  is polluted;
- (c) whether the Government has any proposal to declare Western Ghats as new 'no-go' zone;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the time by which the above proposal is likely to be implemented?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIORNMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

(a) to (e)  Western Ghats with its rich biological diversity is a global biodiversity hotspot. To  protect  and  conserve  the  unique  biodiversity  of  Western  Ghats  and  to  promote sustainable and inclusive development of the region the Ministry of Environment, Forest and  Climate  Change  had  set  up  the  High  Level  Working  Group  (HLWG)  under  the Chairmanship of Dr. Kasturirangan for recommending measures for the conservation and environmental integrity of the Western Ghats.

HLWG, in its report recommended that the activities which have maximum interventionist and destructive impacts on natural ecosystems should not be permitted in Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Areas, namely-  (i) Mining, quarrying and sand mining (ii) Thermal Power Plants (iii) Building and construction projects of 20,000 sq. m. area and above (iv) Township and area development projects with an area of 50 ha and above and/or with built up area of 1,50,000 sq. m. and above   (v) Red category of industries.

MoEF&CC  has  in  principle  accepted  the  HLWG  report  and  to  provide  immediate protection  to  the  Western  Ghats  and  to  maintain  its  environmental  integrity  issued Directions under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 on 13th November 2013 prohibiting and regulating certain activities as recommended by HLWG .

Further, this Ministry had published the draft Notification to declare Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) of the Western Ghats region on 10.03.2014  with a contiguous area of 56825 square  kilometres  spread  over  six  states,  namely  Kerala,  Tamil  Nadu,  Karnataka,  Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The draft Notification has provision to prohibit certain projects and  activities  in  eco-sensitive  areas  of  Western  Ghats  that  has  maximum  interventionist and damaging impacts on the Western Ghats eco-system. Later, addressing the concerns/ apprehensions expressed by various stakeholders, the Draft Notification was re-published on 04.09.2015.

Recently,  superseding  the  earlier  Draft  Notification,  this  Ministry  has  re-published  the Draft  Notification  on  the  ESA  of  the  Western  Ghats  region  on  27.02.2017  for  seeking stakeholders  comments.  Also,  the  states  of  the  Western  Ghats  have  been  intimated  to provide their final views/recommendation along with necessary maps for finalisation of the Ecologically Sensitive Areas in the Western Ghats region.

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