Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has urged the Union government to defer the finalisation of the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification until the state’s High-Level Committee submits its report and the physical survey is completed within a year.

Shivakumar met Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi and requested that the notification process be deferred to allow Karnataka to complete the assessment.

The Karnataka government has sought time to complete the work of its High-Level Committee and conduct a physical survey within one year before the notification is finalised.

The request comes amid ongoing discussions over the identification and protection of ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats, a globally significant biodiversity region.

The proposed ESA notification has implications for areas identified as ecologically sensitive, making the assessment process and the concerns of states an important part of the discussions.