Overview
- The Centre reissued the seventh draft on July 27, 2026, proposing a 56,825.7 square kilometre ecologically sensitive area (ESA) spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- The draft keeps the state-wise breakdown from the 2024 proposal — Karnataka 20,668 sq km, Maharashtra 17,340 sq km, Kerala 9,993.7 sq km, Tamil Nadu 6,914 sq km, Goa 1,461 sq km and Gujarat 449 sq km — and lists 1,463 villages for possible inclusion.
- If finalised, the notification would ban new mining, quarrying and sand mining, bar new thermal power plants and polluting 'red' industries, phase out existing mines within five years of final notification or lease expiry, and regulate large construction and hydropower activities.
- An expert committee headed by Sanjay Kumar has had its tenure extended to July 2027 to examine state inputs and revised proposals, but a deadlock persists with Karnataka opposing the draft and Kerala and Tamil Nadu holding unresolved objections while Goa and Gujarat are largely aligned with the Centre.
- The move revives a decade-long, iterative process that grew out of the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reviews and could sharply restrict extractive and large development projects in the Ghats, affecting local livelihoods, infrastructure planning and any forest diversion that must follow the Forest Rights Act and gram sabha consent rules.