Forest Minister B Eshwar Khandre instructed that in order to preserve the Western Ghats, which is the source of many rivers and a place of biodiversity and as per the opinion of experts it is advisable to temporarily hold back all land conversion proposals until new regulations on land use are made in this area.
In a note sent to the Deputy Chief Secretary of the department, he also said that the Kasturi Rangan report, which was recently notified again by the central government, is intended to be discussed in the cabinet meeting.
Khandre has expressed concern about the occurrence of landslides and hill collapses in many places of Western Ghats including Karnataka and Kerala. In the study of landslide cases in Kodagu, forest encroachment and human development activities are said to be the primary cause, Minister added.
The Minister further informed that it has come to notice that specific and separate rules have been formulated for land conversion and building construction in the Ghat areas of the Himalayan Valley State of Himachal Pradesh.
Experts have opined that it is appropriate to temporarily suspend all land conversion proposals under the Western Ghats till a new Zonal Regulation and Master plan on Land use pattern is formulated in coordination with the Urban and Rural Planning Department, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Departments. The Assistant Chief Secretaries have been instructed to take steps to submit a proposal with clear opinion in coordination with various departments.
Speaking further minister said that experts are of the opinion that it is appropriate to give the environmental consent letter for the project only in special cases where it is public important cases after the approval of the senior officials of the relevant department and the high authority committee meeting of the expert committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretaries of the government. In this regard, he also told the Deputy Chief Secretary to file a proposal to frame new regulations on land use for the benefit of future generations.
