Subscribe
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Union ministry of environment forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) to finalise a timeline to declare Western Ghats an eco-sensitive zone.
The western bench of the tribunal gave out the directives to the green ministry on on July 29, 2024 while hearing a Nashik resident allege construction activities in Brahmagiri hills that are detrimental to the environment.
In August 2023, Lalita Shinde, a Trimbakeshwar resident about 25 kilometres from Nashik, brought up the issue with advocates Lakshyaved Odhekar and Indrayani Patani, who filed a case with the NGT, raising concerns about environmental damage caused by construction, mining, and hill-cutting activities in the region.
Trimbakeshwar’s Brahmagiri hills are located in the northern section of the Western Ghats and are significant ecologically and religiously because the river Godavari originates there. It is rich in biodiversity, with tribal settlements and sacred groves located nearby. Kumbh Mela, one of the largest congregations in the world, is held every 12 years.
Taking note of the complaints, the NGT directed the district administration in January 2024 to form a joint committee consisting of district collectors, the Nashik forest department and the Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council and to submit a report on their findings.
Shinde’s petition stated that with her limited resources, it was difficult to identify each survey number and plot where such constructions were taking place, as many of them were in forest areas. However, she pointed out 86 places around the foothills of the Brahmagiri hills where illegal mining and sand extraction activities were taking place.
The committee surveyed and submitted the report in March 2024, stating that all the construction works were legal and had sought permissions from the Trimbakeshwar Municipal Corporation.
“Trimbakeshwar village is not a declared eco-sensitive zone and, therefore, the applicant may provide the copy of final draft notification,” the panel submitted.
The applicant objected to the report, stating that, “The majority of the area is a forest land, which can be seen even from the detailed report and yet no proper inquiry was conducted in that regard. The detailed report refers to certain permissions granted to certain constructions, however, there is absolutely no reference in the report to the excavation and mining, which are being carried out at the foothills of Brahmagiri.”
The applicant highlighted that the joint committee did not attach any proof that the construction was legal. The court also observed that the committee has not verified if the construction works were approved by the forest department or not.
Speaking with Down To Earth, Odhekar said as the constructions are termed legal, the court did not find any objectionable in the report. “However, if it is recognised as eco-sensitive zone, then such construction can be stopped, citing environmental damage,” he said.
The NGT was informed that the Gadgil committee, led by eminent environmentalist Madhav Gadgil, in his report had suggested 1,500 square km area to be declared as eco-sensitive zone, Odhekar said.
“The report included about 14 villages from Trimbakeshwar to be protected for their rich natural resources and unique biodiversity, encompassing the entire Brahmagiri region,” he noted.
Odhekar said that the draft notification proposed by the MoEF&CC in 2022 has not yet been finalised and hence the environmental protection of the region is under threat.
“It was appealed to the court that some timeline be fixed to finalise the draft notification to declare Western Ghats an eco-sensitive area as the issue has come up on multiple occasions,” he said.
The court, accepting the prayer, stated, “Some timeline should be fixed for finalising the same, we expect the authorities concerned, particularly, the respondent MoEF&CC to pay attention to it and try to finalise the same at the earliest.”