BENGALURU, Sept. 23 -- The Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday unanimously rejected the Centre's latest proposal to declare 20,668 sq km of the Western Ghats an Ecologically Sensitive Area, asking the Union government to keep the notification on hold for a year while the state carries out physical surveys and addresses land and livelihood concerns.

The resolution, moved by chief minister D K Shivakumar during a three day special session on the Kasturirangan report, opposed the seventh draft ESA notification issued by the Centre on July 27, 2026, in its present form. The proposed area covers 1,449 villages in 10 districts of Karnataka.

Shivakumar said the state had attempted to understand concerns of residents before taking its position, inclu...