MoEF bid to cool rage over Rangan

Thiruvananthapuram: The Ministry of Environment and Forests  (MoEF) has issued  mitigating clauses to assuage the feelings of people inhabiting areas marked as ESA by the Kasturirangan panel.  

This follows the assurance given by the ministry  on November 19  that the boundaries of the ecologically sensitive areas will be reworked on the basis of the state government inputs.
The MoEF, however, stood by the ‘in-principle’ acceptance of the  report of the High-Level Working Group led by K. Kasturirangan.

The MoEF has clarified that the existing development activities in ESAs, even if prohibited by the Kasturirangan panel, would be allowed to continue.

This exemption is not for mining activities, which will have to be phased out in five years or stopped when the lease expires. The MoEF has also accorded state governments the right to suggest modifications to the boundaries of ESAs on the basis of “physical verification.”

An office memorandum issued by the MoEF on Friday further states that the HLWG recommendations do not put any restrictions on land use in ESAs. “Neither do they put any fresh restrictions on land use in the ESA nor  in any way impact the continued occupation of land in possession of the local people and affect their day-to- day activities or normal livelihood,” it states.

“Further, the recommendations also do not prohibit or restrict any normal activities relating to plantations, agriculture or any other activity except those which have been specifically prohibited or restricted in the ESA,” it adds.     

A final notification will be issued only after the boundaries of ESAs have been fine-tuned after receiving inputs from stakeholders and state governments.

The OM, however, reiterates that relevant steps would be initiated to operationalise the recommendations of the HLWG. A draft notification declaring the identified region of the Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area along the lines accepted by the Ministry would be issued and put up on the website of the Ministry for inputs of stakeholders. 

A high-level committee of the MoEF will be set up to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the HLWG in a time-bound manner, the office memorandum said.