Western Ghats Now Declared Ecologically Sensitive Area: New Draft Notification Highlights

The Centre issued a fifth draft notification designating over 56,800 sq km of the Western Ghats, including landslide-hit Wayanad, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). Key proposals include bans on mining and large-scale construction. Feedback is invited within 60 days. The move aims to protect the area following recent devastating landslides.

The Centre has issued a fifth draft notification declaring more than 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats, spanning six states including Kerala’s landslide-prone Wayanad, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). The public has been invited to submit suggestions and objections within 60 days.

Issued on July 31, just a day after multiple landslides claimed over 300 lives in Wayanad, the draft proposes to label 9,993.7 square kilometres in Kerala—including 13 villages in two talukas—as eco-sensitive.

The notification covers areas from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, banishing new mining operations, prohibiting large-scale construction projects, and limiting the expansion of existing thermal power plants.

Healthcare establishments may continue operations, with new primary healthcare centres permissible under existing laws. Property ownership remains unrestricted. This step follows recommendations from both the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel and the High-Level Working Group aimed at safeguarding the region’s ecology.