Bengaluru: Karnataka legislature Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution rejecting the Centre’s seventh draft Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification. The resolution followed a discussion, held in both the assembly and council, on the Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats.
Shivakumar announced a committee headed by a retired judge, with revenue and forest officials, farmer associations, industrialists and ecology experts on the panel, to address the draft’s shortcomings.
They should not face hurdles or threats,” the CM said, adding that a delegation would soon travel to Delhi to press the region’s case.
Moved by chief minister DK Shivakumar , the resolution seeks a one-year window from the Centre for a ground-level survey to separate forests from farms, plantations and human settlements before the notification is finalised.
States had 60 days to file objections to the draft proposal.
Urging people to surrender their hunting guns, he said the govt had given them enough time to comply with the norms. Let us see how many come forward,” he said. When MLAs cutting across party lines flagged unresolved issues, including Bagar Hukum, forest rights, deemed forests, land grants and pending court cases, Shivakumar assured those would be taken up separately. Chief minister DK Shivakumar cautioned against encroachment upon forest land and poaching of wild animals, saying improved surveillance had made evasion harder, with cameras now tracking both trespassers as well as animal movements. Any violation now will lead to police action. “Please surrender them [hunting weapons]. You do not need them.
Responding to a question from opposition leader R Ashok on the National Green Tribunal ’s directives, Shivakumar said senior advocates would be appointed to present Karnataka’s stand before the Supreme Court on the Centre’s Kasturirangan report notification.