Though members cutting across party affiliations in the Assembly stressed the need for putting up a united fight to save the livelihoods of people with respect to the draft notification on Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) issued by the Centre, based on the Kasturirangan report, the House witnessed a political blame game on the origin of the report.

During the debate on the Kasturirangan report, the ruling Congress members, including Minister Eshwar B. Khandre and members A.S. Ponnanna and Beluru Gopalakrishna, sought to emphasise that the draft notification on the declaration of ESA had been issued by the NDA government at the Centre.

Special package

While Mr. Khandre, who earlier held the Forest portfolio, demanded that the Centre announce a special package for the affected areas as it had issued the draft notification, Mr. Ponnanna expressed concern that the Centre (NDA government) had not bothered to revise the draft though the State had filed objections six times.

Taking exception to the NDA government allegedly being shown in a poor light, BJP member B.Y. Vijayendra launched a counterattack by arguing that it was the erstwhile UPA government led by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that constituted the Madhav Gadgil committee to look into the Ecologically Sensitive Area of the Western Ghats.

“Though there was no order from either the Supreme Court or the National Green Tribunal, the then Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, had constituted such a committee. This committee identified vast tracts of land as ESA, following which the Kasturirangan committee was formed. It is the erstwhile UPA government which is responsible for the present draft notification on ESA,” he said. He cautioned that merely blaming the Centre would not help Karnataka to get justice.

Accusing Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa of publicly politicising the issue, he said the Minister had taken to the streets to “provoke” people against the Centre.

Taking into confidence

Intervening at this point, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar sought to pacify Mr. Vijayendra by maintaining that the Minister’s action was not to protest against the Centre, but to send a message to affected people that the government would stand with them. “I myself have gone to the affected districts and held public consultations,” he said.

He argued that the main purpose of convening a special session for debating the Kasturirangan report was to take the Opposition into confidence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Vijayendra sought to refute Congress member Beluru Gopalakrishna’s earlier allegations that B.Y. Raghavendra, Shivamogga MP, had failed to attend all 11 meetings convened by the authorities concerned related to the Kasturirangan report. He urged the Congress member to either furnish evidence to prove his allegations or withdraw them.