Narrowed posture: On Karnataka and the Kasturirangan Report

The Kasturirangan Report bears a pro-development attitude that allows human occupation and a range of economic activity across the Western Ghats, yet the Karnataka Assembly unanimously repudiated its recommendations . A grievance concerned the accuracy of the remote-sensing and satellite data from 2012 that the Report uses to distinguish natural from human-dominated landscapes. Another concern was its recommendation that an entire revenue village be placed within an ‘ecologically sensitive area’ (ESA) if at least 20% of its area is sensitive. This could bring farmland and human settlements within the ESA even when sensitive areas occupy only a fraction of the village. Following the Centre’s directive to States in 2013-14 to begin ground-truthing the Report’s recommendations, Karnataka faced bipartisan opposition centered on concerns about livelihoods, with vested interests, including stakeholders of activities both the Gadgil and the Kasturirangan Reports restrict/ban such as mining, allegedly fanning fears of displacement.