The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had recently decided to reduce the area of the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) in the Western Ghats. The Ministry issued a draft notification keeping the boundaries of ESZ in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu same as those proposed by the Kasturirangan Committee. On March 18, MoEF had issued draft notification for declaring 56,825 square kilometre (sq km) as ESZ in the six Western Ghats states.