Exclusive: 13 years later, protection for Western Ghat areas in 3 states almost ready

The Western Ghats are a global biodiversity hotspot and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, crucial for influencing the Indian monsoon and serving as the 'water tower' of peninsular India. To protect this sensitive ecosystem, the government proposes declaring significant portions as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs).

• The Gadgil Committee (2011) originally recommended declaring the entire Western Ghats (approx 1,29,000 sq km) as an ESA, advocating a strong conservationist approach with strict zoning and community-led governance.
• Following widespread protests from states, the Kasturirangan Committee (2013) adopted a more moderate approach, distinguishing between 'natural landscapes' (contiguous vegetation) and 'cultural landscapes' (human settlements and agriculture). It recommended that only the natural landscapes—approximately 37% of the Western Ghats (nearly 60,000 sq km)—be declared as ESA.
• Activities prohibited in an ESA typically include commercial mining, quarrying, setting up highly polluting 'red category' industries, and large-scale construction or thermal power projects.

UPSC can frame Prelims questions on the geography of the Western Ghats (rivers originating there, protected areas) or the specific differences between the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports. In Mains, you could be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the ESA framework in balancing conservation with development.

This issue is a classic example of the tension in environmental federalism—the challenge of balancing national environmental goals with state-level developmental priorities. While environmental protection is a shared responsibility under the Concurrent List, the Centre is acting under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (EPA).

• Section 3 of the EPA grants the Central Government the power to take measures to protect and improve the quality of the environment, including restricting areas in which industries or operations shall not be carried out. This is the legal basis for declaring an ESA.
• The 13-year delay and multiple draft notifications highlight the practical difficulties of cooperative federalism when states fear that environmental regulations will stifle local economic growth and trigger political backlash from affected communities. Kerala and Karnataka's continued resistance demonstrates how states push back against central directives perceived to harm their developmental interests.
• The government's decision to proceed with notifying ESAs only in states that have agreed (a piecemeal approach rather than a comprehensive notification for all six states) reflects a pragmatic, albeit compromised, strategy to move forward.

UPSC often tests this tension in Mains GS Paper 2 (Federalism) and GS Paper 3 (Environment). You should be able to analyze the EPA's provisions and discuss the challenges of implementing centralized environmental policies in a diverse federal structure.

The prolonged deadlock over the Western Ghats ESA underscores the fundamental conflict between sustainable development and short-term economic growth.

• States are resisting the ESA demarcation because of the direct economic impact of the proposed prohibitions. Banning activities like mining, quarrying, and large-scale construction directly affects state revenue, employment generation, and industrial expansion in those areas.
• For instance, Gujarat’s conditional consent is tied to allowing minor mineral mining in non-forest areas, and Maharashtra wants to omit certain villages to protect proposed industrial and mining projects. This highlights the concept of opportunity cost—the states perceive the economic loss from restricted development as higher than the long-term ecological benefits.
• However, the long-term economic cost of environmental degradation in the Western Ghats—such as disrupted monsoon patterns, water scarcity, and increased frequency of landslides (like the recent tragedies in Wayanad)—can be catastrophic. The ecosystem services provided by the Ghats (water supply, climate regulation) have an immense, often unquantified, economic value.

Mains questions often require analyzing this 'Environment vs. Development' debate. You should be prepared to argue how sustainable practices (like eco-tourism or non-timber forest produce) can be integrated into local economies to offset the losses from prohibited activities.