Fury over panel report surprises greens
The HinduEnvironmentalists are surprised at the war cry being raised against the K. Kasturirangan committee recommendations for protection of the Western Ghats in the State. The Kasturirangan committee, using resource satellite, had identified 1,64,280 sq km under the Western Ghats with width of 10 km to 200 km. While the Gadgil committee recommended protecting 90 per cent of the Western Ghats area identified by the panel, the Kasturirangan committee suggested protecting 36.49 per cent of the identified area. This was because the latter report had demarcated 81,239 sq km covered by farms and recommended protection of only 59,940 sq km, which was the stipulated 36.49 per cent earmarked as “natural landscape”. They said replacing the Gadgil panel recommendations with the Kasturirangan committee recommendations had similarities to the replacement of the Coastal Regulatory Zone Act 1991 with the Coastal Management Zone Notification 2011.
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