6 months ago
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In a determination that augurs good for the conservation of Western Ghats, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has rejected 2 abstracted proposals seeking diversion of forestland successful Ankola and Karwar taluks for chromatic quarries.
The decisions are based connected tract inspection that item concerns implicit ecological fragility, and the imaginable for irreversible harm to the Western Ghats ecosystem, which is 1 of the world’s astir captious biodiversity hotspots.
The archetypal connection sought diversion of 3.55 hectares of forestland successful Baleguli village, Ankola, for quarrying and laying an entree road. In the inspection report, K. Yasodha, Deputy Inspector-General of Forests, of the Bengaluru Regional Office of the MoEF&CC noted that the area, though leased for cashew cultivation, hosts important vegetation and undocumented floral diversity.
Vulnerable to landslips
The study besides noted that the sites were located connected steep, erosion-prone slopes with a past of dense rainfall, expanding its vulnerability to landslips.
In its recommendation, the determination bureau declined to enactment the task owed to aggregate deficiencies and ecological risks. It noted that allowing quarrying successful the country would pb to large-scale demolition of the ecology of Western Ghats.
The 2nd proposal, for diversion of 0.49 ha successful Arav village, Karwar, was rejected with adjacent accent connected biology sensitivity.
Report
The inspection study noted that the tract wherever the projected quarry was to beryllium established, fell squarely wrong the notified Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area, classified arsenic tropical moist deciduous wood with dense canopy cover.
Wild animals reported to beryllium contiguous successful some the areas included spotted and leopard, rodent deer, pangolin, sloth bear, sambar, jungle cat, jackal, show lizard, and reticulated python, among others. What is important is that pugmarks of tiger were besides located during tract inspection successful the region.
The section noted that the country supported affluent biodiversity, including Schedule I wildlife species, and is highly prone to erosion and landslips owed to aggravated monsoons and mountainous terrain.
Tree re-enumeration
A implicit histrion re-enumeration was besides deemed indispensable arsenic the wood screen was recovered to beryllium richer than antecedently recorded, arsenic per the report.
Environmental observers spot the duplicate rejections arsenic a beardown connection connected safeguarding the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, wherever unregulated quarrying has been repeatedly linked to situation fragmentation, ungraded destabilisation, flooding, and disruption of wildlife movement.
Wildlife conservationist Giridhar Kulkarni said conscionable a fewer days ago, a tiger travelled astir 360 km from the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve to the Karwar Forest Division successful Uttara Kannada district. In this context, the determination was important for the semipermanent conservation of Western Ghats ecosystem and extortion of tigers, helium added.
Activists aver that the decisions should awesome a displacement towards tighter scrutiny of extractive activities successful eco-sensitive zones and the imperatives to prioritise semipermanent conservation implicit short-term commercialized gains.
