Karnataka MLC Ivan D’Souza has urged MPs from the state to press the Centre to form a fact-finding committee before taking further steps to implement the Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats, citing concerns over its impact on residents and the need to verify forest boundaries on the ground.
D’Souza made the appeal at a press conference on Saturday and called on Union ministers Pralhad Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje and V Somanna, along with Karnataka MPs across party lines, to seek a review of the draft notification linked to the report. He said the recommendations should not be implemented in their existing form without a fresh assessment of local conditions.
“We support the conservation of Western Ghats, but oppose the implementation of the report in its existing form,” D’Souza said. He added that the proposed fact-finding exercise should examine the report’s effect on people living in the region and establish the actual boundaries of forest areas before any implementation decision.
The MLC said he would convene a meeting of stakeholders affected by the report in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi within a week. The meeting is intended to gather the views of residents and others who may be affected by the recommendations, according to his statement.
D’Souza also said he would raise the issue during the three-day special session of the Karnataka legislature scheduled from September 21 to 23. His demand places the question of local verification alongside the wider dispute over how conservation proposals affecting the Western Ghats should be applied on the ground.
According to D’Souza, the Karnataka government has rejected the draft notification on the Kasturirangan report six times in the past. He alleged that the Centre had repeatedly exerted pressure to implement it, while arguing that the state’s concerns and the circumstances of affected communities required further consideration.
The latest demand comes as the implementation question remains tied to two competing administrative priorities: protecting the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and determining how proposed restrictions would affect people and land areas in the region. The next stated steps are the stakeholder meeting in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi and the issue’s discussion during the Karnataka legislature’s special session.
