Report by CAG on Western Ghats

Recently, a report titled “Administration of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Karnataka” was released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The report is the result of an audit carried out over five-years (2011-2016) in the Western Ghats-Nilgiri biosphere reserve region. The report has been labelled as first-of-its-kind. It reveals the impact of human intrusion into wildlife habitats and provides several facts and figures on the preservation of flora and wildlife habitats in the Western Ghats.

Key Findings of Report

• It suggested measures to mitigate the damage caused by human settlements in the region.
• The report revealed that more than one lakh acres of forest area in Western Ghats had been encroached upon in the past two decades.
• Many resorts and hotels operating in the protected area do not have the necessary permission from the forest department.
• The encroachment of forest area had nearly increased by four times in the past two decades. It was 42,518 acres in year 1995 which increased to 2,04,442 acres in 2014.
• Mini hydroelectric projects have affected the flow of water, disrupting the migratory path of animals.
• Spatial analysis of the Western Ghats indicated that the area of the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests had decreased by 75,635 hectares in the past two decades.
• Agricultural activities have threatened the forest areas like Daneli, Bandipur, Kudremukh, Brahmagiri, etc.
• Intense human activity around forest areas has also resulted in an increase in cases of human-animal conflict.
• Large number of animals had fallen prey to road accidents
• Lacklustre approach of the forest department to prevent encroachments of the forest areas

Importance of Western Ghats

• Western Ghats are an important geological landform of peninsular India.
• It is one of the identified biodiversity hotspots.
• It is the origin of peninsular rivers like Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri.
• It is home to many endemic flora and fauna species.
• It is rich in plant species such as pepper, cardamom, cinnamom, mango and jackfruit.
• Western Ghats have large number of evergreen forests that help in the sequestration of atmospheric carbon-dioxide
• It has great potential for hydro-electric power generation

Measures suggested in the Report to protect and preserve the Ghats

• The report suggested the need for corridors connecting forests to prevent cases of human-animal conflict.
• The mini-hydro power projects are “ecologically and economically unviable” and “need to be suspended”

Measures adopted by the government till now for the protection of the Western Ghats

In order to protect the Western Ghats, the government has already taken several steps. Large numbers of protected areas comprising national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and elephant reserves have been established. Government is also trying to implement the measures suggested by the earlier reports like Kasturirangan report and Gadgil report

Comment

Though the government seems to have taken certain measures to conserve the fast declining biological diversity in the Western Ghats yet, the pace of implementation of the suggested reforms has been too slow. Also, rather than declaring the complete area of Western Ghats as eco-sensitive zone and banning all kinds of human activities in the region; the government should try to adopt a sustainable solution – both ecologically and economically.