Kochi | Jan 23, 2017: Kasturirangan Panel Report (KPR) is the basic document that is being relied upon in the case of areas that have been earmarked as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) of the Western Ghats, state government has informed the high court.

The government's submission was in the form of an appeal filed by it, challenging a single bench's order for granting environmental clearance for a crusher unit at Koottickal in Kottayam district.

Central government has not approved the list of ESAs prepared by a three-member panel headed by Kerala State Biodiversity Board chairperson Oommen V Oommen. Therefore, the list of ESAs prepared by the biodiversity board is not relevant in the present circumstances, state government informed the court.

The Oommen panel was appointed by the UDF government, following protests challenging the move to include 123 villages in Idukki, Wayanad and Kozhikode districts in the list of ESAs. The panel was appointed after the Union ministry of environment and forests accepted the recommendations of KPR.

Activities like mining, quarrying, construction of thermal power plants and highly-polluting industries, and construction of buildings over 2,000 square metres and townships spanning more than 50 hectares were banned in ESAs as per KPR. Though the appointment of Oommen panel was challenged at the high court, by alleging that it favoured encroachers, the court had, in October last year, said it's too early to interfere.

Opposing a single bench's order to grant clearance for a crusher unit in an area that is not included in the Oommen panel report, state government has now informed the high court that such a directive is not acceptable. Many areas that were included as ESAs in KPR may not be included in the Oommen panel report. If the single bench's directive is agreed to, it would have far reaching consequences for the environment, government has contended.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)