Karnataka Assembly rejects Kasturirangan report in present form

BENGALURU: The Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution rejecting the K Kasturirangan report on the conservation of the Western Ghats in its present form

The resolution, passed at the end of a special discussion on the report, urged the Centre to rectify the "deficiencies" in it.

Reading out the resolution in the House, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Western Ghats in Karnataka constituted an extremely important region from the perspective of the state's natural resources, biodiversity and ecological balance.

"On July 27, 2026, the Government of India issued the seventh draft Environmentally Sensitive Area notification based on the Kasturirangan report, identifying approximately 20,668 square kilometres covering 1,449 villages in 10 districts of Karnataka under the ESA," the resolution said.

It said forest areas, agricultural lands, plantations and houses in the villages had also been included under the ESA, while the boundaries had been determined using satellite data without conducting a joint physical survey.

"There are pending issues concerning Bagair Hukum forest rights, deemed forests, land regularisation, appeals and judicial cases.

"Declaring an entire village as an ecologically sensitive area on the basis that one-fifth of the village falls within forest limits has caused considerable discontent among the local population," the resolution said.

The Kasturirangan report had recommended protecting about 37 per cent, or about 56,825 to 60,000 square kilometres, of the Western Ghats mountain range by classifying it as an Ecologically Sensitive Area.