Apart from the notified forest, no extra footprint should be added to ESA: Shivamogga MP

Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra (centre) addressing a press conference on the notification of an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in Shivamogga on August 29, 2026. Local legislator SN Channabasappa is right. | Photo credit: SK Dinesh

Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra, who welcomed Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s announcement of convening a special session of the legislature on the notification of an ecologically sensitive area (ESA), appealed to the state government to order a survey of the notified area and reduce its extent on the “Kerala model”.

At a press meet in Shivamogga on August 29, Mr. Raghavendra said that apart from the already notified forest area, not even a single foot of land should come under the ESA.

Mr. Raghavendra said the committees dealing with the ESA notification were formed during the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. Responding to allegations that the Union government was responsible for the problem, he said, “If the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government was anti-farmer, it would have deleted the notification in the first or second draft itself.

The Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Climate Change issued the proposal for the seventh time.

Welcoming the Chief Minister’s decision to convene a special session, Mr. Raghavendra said that before the session, the state government should direct the district administration as soon as possible to conduct joint meetings of revenue and forest department officials to survey the ground situation.

He said there should be a clear distinction between natural landscape and cultivated or cultural landscape, pointing out that arecanut, rubber, pepper and ginger plantations need to be separated from forest land before the notification is finalised.

Referring to the Kerala model, Mr. Raghavendra said that Kerala has reduced the area under ESA by more than 3,000 km2. after physical examination. Similarly, Karnataka could reduce the total extent from 20,000 km2, he said. to 15,000 sq km, keeping the buffer zone at zero, ensuring that villages around national parks and nature reserves were not affected.

Legislator SN Channabasappa and others were present at the press conference.

Published – 29 Aug 2026 10:35 IST