Coalition publishes Kannada translation of seventh ESA draft to bridge information gap for local communities

A coalition of organisations has published a Kannada translation of the seventh draft notification on the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), given that the draft is currently available only in Hindi and English.

The draft, which aims to restrict destructive activities in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, was published by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in July inviting comments and objections from the public.

Despite the largest share of the proposed protected area being in Karnataka, the draft has not been made available in Kannada, thereby limiting the understanding of a large section of the State on what the draft proposes.

The Kannada translation of the proposed policy was published by the coalition to bridge this information gap.

“People are being asked to respond to a notification they cannot read,” said Nirmala Gowda, from Mapping Malnadu which is part of the coalition.