Kali Tiger Reserve
Context
Centre seeks action against officers for allowing mining in Kali Tiger Reserve ESZ.
- The Central Government has ordered punitive action against forestry and regulatory officials who illegally permitted stone quarrying inside the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.
- The Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee directed its regional office in Bengaluru to identify the concerned individuals, initiate immediate action for permitting operations between 2001 and 2004 without central clearance, and submit an official action-taken report.
Features
- The Project: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) required massive amounts of stone aggregates to construct its 2X700MW nuclear reactors for Units 5 and 6 at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station.
- The Land: A quarry was approved across nearly 10 acres of forest land located directly within the tiger reserve’s buffer area.
- The Lapse: Officials historically overlooked required statutory wildlife and central environmental approvals, allowing the quarrying to go ahead in a fragile ecological landscape.
Current Action & Ecological Impacts
- Clearance Deferred: Due to these past violations, the Centre has deferred renewing the forest clearance for the broader Kaiga Atomic Power Project.
- Critical Wildlife Corridor: The illegal quarry site sits just 3.87 km away from the highly critical Dandeli-Sharavathi Tiger Corridor.
- High Environmental Risk: The regional office previously flagged that the area sits in a heavy-rainfall zone highly vulnerable to severe soil erosion and devastating landslides.
Ecological Sensitive Zone
- Statutory Framework: ESZs are notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Interestingly, the word “Eco-Sensitive Zone” is not explicitly mentioned in the Act itself.
- Extents and Boundaries: The basic criterion is to declare areas up to 10 kilometres around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries as ESZs. However, if the area features a sensitive ecological corridor, the width can exceed 10 km.
- Supreme Court Mandate (2022/2023): In 2022, the Supreme Court mandated a 1 km minimum ESZ for all protected areas. However, in April 2023, the Court clarified and modified this view, stating that a rigid 1 km rule cannot be applied uniformly, particularly where statutory notifications are already in place or near international borders.
Supplementary budget proposal
Context
The Karnataka Legislature has passed a ₹7,042.69 crore first supplementary budget for FY25, tabled by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The budget consists of ₹4,324.35 crore in revenue expenditure and ₹2,718.35 crore in capital expenditure.
Key Allocations:
- Rural Employment: ₹2,918 crore for the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission.
- Infrastructure: ₹1,000 crore for Bengaluru road development and ₹708 crore for the AMRUT urban scheme.
- Youth & Development: ₹781 crore for Bharat Jodo Youth Clubs and ₹289 crore for the Jaladhare rural water scheme.
- Transport & Health: ₹193.61 crore for road transport corporation equity, ₹152.72 crore for health infrastructure, and ₹96 crore for KKRTC buses.
- Housing & Other: ₹93 crore for rural housing (PMAY) and other miscellaneous projects.
Green gram (moong) yield
Context
Green gram yield to come a cropper in north Karnataka this year
- The green gram (moong) yield in North Karnataka is projected to drop by 30% during the 2026 Kharif cropping season.
- According to report, a trifecta of adverse weather, disease, and pests has severely impacted the region’s traditional pulse-growing belt.
Features
- Severe Moisture Stress: The region recorded a 35% rainfall deficit during critical growing periods, stalling the development of this rain-fed short-duration crop.
- Viral Outbreak: Fields across North Karnataka have been hit hard by Yellow Mosaic Disease (YMD), a virus that destroys chlorophyll and stunts plant growth.
- Pest Attacks: Infestations of sucking pests like thrips and whiteflies (which also act as vectors transmitting the mosaic virus) have further degraded crop quality.
Affected Regions and Economic Impact
- The crisis is most acute in the traditional green gram belt of the state, which makes up about 40% of Karnataka’s total pulse cultivation area.
- Primary Districts Hit: Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri, Belagavi, and Bagalkot.
- Financial Strain: Agriculture Department officials note that local farmers invested up to ₹8,000 to ₹20,000 per acre in cultivation costs, leaving many facing steep losses without safety nets.