National Green Tribunal to pronounce its verdict on Western Ghats issue today

Pulling up the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for dilly dallying on deciding over ecologically sensitive areas (ESA) in Western Ghats for over three years now, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday suggested to ministry to expeditiously decide on the matter. The tribunal, in its judgment to be pronounced on Thursday, is also likely to ban all activities in ecologically sensitive areas of Western Ghats.

The tribunal was visibly irked with MoEF's flip-flop on deciding over ESAs in Western Ghats, which are spread across six states – Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It also said that everything is blamed on courts and tribunals and left MoEF free to take the decision on the issue.

"Why is MoEF shying away from deciding …" remarked a bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar who also added that the environment ministry cannot take shield in NGT.

The bench further noted that at present it would not decide about ESAs in Western Ghats and is leaving it to wisdom of MoEF, NGT's bench, however, said that they would not allow any activity in ecologically sensitive Western Ghats until MoEF demarcates the ESAs. The court announced that it would pronounce its judgment on the matter on Thursday.

The tribunal stated that it cannot allow anyone to spoil the area without a clear notification by the ministry demarcating the ESAs.

However, when counsels appearing on behalf of Kerala government and MoEF, submitted that it may bring all activities in Western Ghat region to a halt, the court suggested Kerala government to pursue with environment ministry to expedite the process that has been pending for over three years now.

Raj Panjwani, the senior counsel appearing for Goa Foundation, said, "Until the complete area which constitutes ecologically important Western Ghat is demarcated, no activity which is destructive of ecology can be permitted."

NGT also left it on MoEF to take up demarcation of ESAs statewise or the whole region together as states like Kerala have already submitted their reports on the Western Ghats while others have sought more time.

In 2010, MoEF constituted an expert panel headed by Professor Madhav Gadgil to identify ESAs in Western Ghats. The Gadgil panel in its report, submitted to ministry in 2011 suggested dividing entire Western Ghats in several ecologically sensitive zones with each zone having different level of prohibition on developmental activities and also recommended large scale measures to control environmental degradation.

However, with serious objections from the concerned state governments on Gadgil report, a High Level Working Group (HLWG) headed by Dr K Kasturirangan was formed which recommended declaring 37% of Western Ghats as ecological sensitive areas. Several state governments, meanwhile, had raised objections to recommendations of Kasturirangan report too.

Meanwhile, MoEF, last month, informed NGT that it is processing further the Kasturirangan report and not Madhav Gadgil report.

Following those objections by state governments, the environment ministry secretary Ashok Lavasa in an affidavit filed before the tribunal on Monday, said that they would take a view on declaration of ESAs keeping in mind those objections.

The affidavit clearly said that state governments which fall in the Western Ghats region might, after undertaking demarcation of ESA by physical verification, propose "exclusion/inclusion" of certain areas from or in the ESA as stated in the draft notification that MoEF issued earlier.

"Such proposals will be examined by the MoEF before taking a view on further appropriate action, including issuing a fresh draft notification, if required, to seek fresh objections from the public on the proposals received from the state governments," the affidavit added.