Farmers, elected representatives urge State govt. to oppose ESA draft notification, make suggestions

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Published - September 19, 2026 07:23 pm IST - Tirthahalli (Shivamogga)

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar during a public meeting on the K. Kasturirangan report in Tirthahalli on Saturday. | Photo Credit: S.K. Dinesh

Farmers and elected representatives from Shivamogga district opposed the draft notification proposing to declare areas across the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) at an interaction on the Kasturirangan report with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday. They also offered suggestions to resolve the problems faced by farmers of the Malnad region.

Senior Congress leader B.R. Jayanth said the farming community in the region was already facing many difficulties under the existing rules and laws. However, if the recommendations of the Kasturirangan committee came into effect, people would be left with no option but to vacate the region.

Mr. Jayanth recalled that ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, Mr. Shivakumar, then Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had taken part in a protest rally seeking a resolution to the problems of people displaced by dam projects in the districts. “Both Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Siddaramaiah had assured that they would resolve the problems. However, the problems remain unresolved,” he said. He also said that more than 2.4 lakh applications seeking land grants under the Forest Rights Act had been rejected.

Farmer Rajendra Kammadagi opposed the idea of conducting a physical survey to identify human habitations and cultivated areas within the proposed ESA. Such an exercise would serve no purpose, he said, adding that the people of Malnad should instead demand special status under Article 371 of the Constitution.

Agricultural economist Prakash Kammaradi suggested that the government discuss, during the special session of the legislature, the drought faced by the people of Malnad, a region known for heavy rainfall.

Ramesh Hegde, Congress leader and president of the Areca Growers Association of Shivamogga, said the Centre had issued the draft notification even after the State government repeatedly opposed it. He said that if the notification came into effect, thousands of farmers fighting for land grants would never see their demands fulfilled.

Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra said successive State governments had opposed the draft notifications since 2014. He said the present government should take up a physical survey of the area to identify cultivated land and human habitations and press the Centre to leave such places out of the ambit of the notification.

School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, Tirthahalli MLA Araga Jnanendra, former Minister Kimmane Rathnakar, Malnad Area Development Board chairperson R.M. Manjunath Gowda, and others also spoke on the occasion.

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