With just a few days left for the final notification of Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said, the deadline is likely to be extended by two months.
Chandy, who briefed newspersons after meeting Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar here, said that the last date for the final notification is expected to be extended by another two months as few States are yet to submit their views on the Kasturirangan report.
"The date for issuing the final notification could be extended by another two months," the Kerala Chief Minister said.
Any final notification for the eco-sensitive zones would be issued within a period of 545 days, after the Environment Ministry had issued a preliminary notification.
In the case of the Kasturirangan report the final notification must be issued by September 9.
The Chief Minister said that the Centre sought certain clarifications over a report that the Kerala Government had earlier submitted to the Environment Ministry regarding Kasturirangan report on Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESA).
"Complete ESAs cannot practically exist in Kerala... Both ESA and non-Ecological Sensitive Villages would co-exist in the 119 villages that were identified as ESAs in the State," he said, while stressing that the villages in Kerala are different from other States.
"As for as ESA is concerned, we do not have any problems pertaining to forest and no man's land, which belongs to the Government and not in put for any agricultural use," he stated.
Claiming that the Union Environment Ministry has accepted Kerala's revised ESA, he said that the issue of notification of the ESA now lies with the Centre.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Javadekar said that Maharashtra would submit its report in a week's time, while adding that the meeting between Chandy and him was very cordial.
"The meeting was very cordial. We had a good meeting. About Kasturirangan report and Eco Sensitive Zone - Many states have submitted their reports. Gujarat, Goa, Kerala and Karnataka have submitted their report. Maharashtra is also submitting this week. So you will get some news sooner than later," Javadekar said after meeting Chandy.
