Bengaluru: Eleven districts that harbour forests of the Western Ghats from Chamarajanagar to Belagavi including Kodagu, Hassan, Shivamogga and Dharwad should get special status on the lines of Article 371(J) for Hyderabad-Karnataka. This recommendation has been made by Western Ghats Task Force in its final report submitted to the State government yesterday. The report was submitted to Forest Minister Satish Jarkiholi.
Committee Chairman Dr. Chandrashekhar suggested the State Government to declare entire Western Ghat region as a Special Zone and take measures to protect its fauna and flora. It may be recalled here that the Dr. K. Kasturirangan Committee and Madhav Gadgil Committee on Western Ghats had also recommended the Union Government to declare Western Ghats as the Ecological Sensitive Region and take measures to protect it.
