Western Ghats seventh ESA draft of 56,825.7 sq km meets resistance from six States

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The news

New Delhi. The 60-day objection period on the Centre’s seventh draft notification, issued on July 27, 2026 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, has ended, and the expert committee examining objections has been given until July 2027, per Down To Earth (October 12). The draft would declare 56,825.7 sq km across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu an Ecologically Sensitive Area: a zone where damaging activities are restricted. It bans new mining, quarrying and sand mining, phasing out existing mines within five years, as well as new thermal plants, red-category (most polluting) industries and buildings of 20,000 sq m or more. It acquires no private land and bans no farming. Karnataka’s legislature rejected it unanimously on September 22; Maharashtra and Goa seek exclusions, and Tamil Nadu questions boundaries.

Prelims nuggets

Eco-sensitive areas are notified by the Centre under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.
The Gadgil panel (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, 2011) favoured protecting the whole range; the Kasturirangan High-Level Working Group (2013) proposed about 37% as eco-sensitive.
The Western Ghats were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.