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Kasturirangan report: Karnataka delegation to meet PM
খবরে কেন?
Karnataka sends a delegation to Delhi over one report: what the Kasturirangan ESA line actually restricts
Karnataka to send an all-party delegation to the Centre on the Kasturirangan Committee report on Western Ghats conservation.
Why it matters: asked in KPSC 2024
What you need to know
2 মিনিট
The Kasturirangan Committee, formally the High-Level Working Group on the Western Ghats set up in 2013, recommended declaring nearly 60,000 sq km spread across six Western Ghats states as Ecologically Sensitive Area, with curbs on mining, quarrying and red-category industries.
Karnataka's Chief Minister said an all-party delegation would meet the Prime Minister and Union Ministers to discuss the report, amid protests from farmers in Western Ghats districts who fear restrictions on land use.
সূত্র: Topper IAS editorial (PIB / The Hindu / Indian Express)
মূল তথ্য
Remember these
- High-Level Working Group on Western Ghats set up in 2013, chaired by K. Kasturirangan
- Recommended declaring nearly 60,000 sq km across six Western Ghats states as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA)
- Six states covered: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat
- ESA proposal curbs mining, quarrying and red-category industries, not all development
- Kasturirangan panel followed the earlier, stricter Gadgil Committee (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel) report
প্রিলিমস · মেইনস
How the exam will ask it
প্রিলিমস
- The Kasturirangan Committee was constituted in 2013 to review the Gadgil Committee report on the Western Ghats.
- It recommended nearly 60,000 sq km as Ecologically Sensitive Area across six Western Ghats states.
- The ESA recommendation imposes restrictions on mining, quarrying and red-category industries within the demarcated area.
- Karnataka's Western Ghats districts have seen farmer protests against the proposed land-use restrictions.
মেইনস
GS Paper III (Environment and Conservation) and GS Paper II (Centre-State Relations): the issue is balancing ecological protection of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot against livelihood concerns of farmers in the proposed ESA; the provision is the graded, activity-specific restriction regime recommended by the Kasturirangan report as a scaled-down alternative to the Gadgil Committee; the implication is prolonged Centre-state and state-farmer friction over notification of the ESA; the way forward lies in participatory demarcation involving state governments and local communities before final notification.
PYQ connection
A question UPSC has already asked on this
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the K. Kasturirangan Committee? a) The Committee was set up in 2022. b) It was set up to study the status of important ecological areas in the Western Ghats. c) The Karnataka Government accepted the Kasturirangan Committee report in September 2024.
- a, b and c are correct
- only c is correct
- only b is correct
- only a and b are correct
উত্তর দেখুন
উত্তর: C
Why this matters: today's issue is directly connected to a concept UPSC has already tested. Read the story with this question in mind.
Practise this PYQ →Quick recall
Answer before you reveal
Consider the following statements about the Kasturirangan Committee on the Western Ghats:
- Its recommended Ecologically Sensitive Area is smaller in extent than that recommended earlier by the Gadgil Committee.
- It recommended a blanket ban on all developmental activity, including agriculture, across the entire Western Ghats region.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
উত্তর দেখুন
উত্তর: A — Correct: 1 only — the Kasturirangan Committee proposed a smaller Ecologically Sensitive Area than the Gadgil Committee and did not impose a blanket ban on all development or agriculture, only graded curbs on mining, quarrying and red-category industries within the demarcated area. • 2 only — wrong: the committee did not ban all developmental activity across the whole Western Ghats. • Both 1 and 2 — wrong: statement 2 is false, so both cannot be correct. • Neither 1 nor 2 — wrong: statement 1 is true.
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