Kerala Floods and the Fragile Ecosystem of Western Ghats

The Kerala tragedy has revived the discussion around the need to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats, the 1600-km-long mountain range, regarded as one of the eight ‘hottest’ biodiversity hotspots in the world. Kerala accounts for nearly 18 per cent of the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats.

What was Finally Decided?

The Environment Ministry issued a draft notification, demarcating an area of 56,285 sq km in the Western Ghats as ESA. This was slightly less than the 59,940 sq km recommended by the Kasturirangan committee. In Kerala, specifically, the Kasturirangan committee had proposed an area of 13,108 square km as ....

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