Bengaluru : Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the state government will not accept the Centre’s draft notification declaring large areas of the Western Ghats as an eco-sensitive area based on the Kasturirangan report, and announced that a special Assembly session will be convened to discuss the issue and pass a resolution.
He said the draft notification covered 20,668 sq km in Karnataka, including 33 taluks in 10 districts and 1,449 villages, and could adversely affect farmers’ livelihoods, basic infrastructure, construction, roads and tourism in the region.
“Going forward, this is causing a lot of difficulty for the livelihoods of our farmers, their basic infrastructure and future development. So we have already discussed how we should protect this,” Shivakumar said.
He said the previous Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet had already rejected the proposal and the Centre proceeding without considering that was a “major shock”.
“Our government cannot accept this in any manner,” he said, adding that he would place the matter before the Cabinet and that the government would “seriously take the people’s opinion into consideration”.
Shivakumar said the draft notification imposed stringent restrictions relating to quarrying, sand transportation, additional thermal power generation, construction and townships, besides creating difficulties in building houses.
“This is causing a lot of difficulty to people’s lives, especially for agriculture, rural facilities, construction, roads, tourism,” he said.
