In a letter to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said, the Minister of State (independent charge), Environment and Forests, Government of India, has sought the views of the Government of Tamil Nadu on the report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP). This report inter alia, recommends the establishment of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) at the National Level with regulatory powers for the approval of new projects to issue directions to the state governments, among other things.
"The creation of the said authority is a gross assault on the powers of state governments to administer ecologically-sensitive areas situated within their own geographical boundaries in the name of environmental scrutiny." It seeks to create yet another redundant super body at the national level to take on and perform functions of state institutions in the agricultural, forestry, environmental and other sectors, and also act as an appellate body with the authority to give directions to the state governments, the letter added.
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Land is a subject which comes under the State List. Any attempt by the Government of India to assume powers to regulate policy with regard to land use, developmental activities under various sectors and power to approve new projects, among others, and issue directions in the name of environment is uncalled for and can only be viewed as an encroachment on the sovereign powers of the state governments, said the chief minister. In the letter, she noted, Tamil Nadu has been a frontrunner in the field of nature and environmental conservation by implementing stringent and effective acts and regulations for conservation in general and for the conservation of hill areas, including the Western Ghats, in particular.
Further, the Hill Area Conservation Authority at the state level enforces the regulations on land use in notified hill areas which cover the entire Western Ghats also in the state. Further, the state is scrupulously implementing various Central Acts regarding environment and forests with due emphasis on the conservation of the Western Ghats area.
"It is relevant to point out here that the Panel report contains no materials to make out any case for any shortcoming in the conservation of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu," she said in the letter.
The state is of the view that yet another regulatory mechanism in the form of the WGEA as proposed by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel will only erode the authority of the state government and create an unnecessary layer of authority in the name of conservation.
For these reasons, the State strongly reiterates that the creation of the proposed Authority is totally unnecessary, both in terms of federal principles and in terms of ecological governance needs, said the Chief Minister.