Last Updated: 23.07.24

Aware of the environmental importance of preserving Matheran and its forests, BEAG had been persistently urging the Government of India for years to create a draft notification for Matheran to be declared an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

But getting the Government of India to issue the ESZ notification for Matheran and its surrounding areas was not an easy task. It was achieved in the teeth of a great deal of opposition—and misinformation—from local politicians, brick manufacturers, builders, quarry owners and others. Fierce arguments took place about the stipulations to be imposed.

BEAG had in fact worked laboriously to create a draft ESZ notification for Matheran and had submitted the document to the Government of India for Matheran as far back as 1998. From 1999, BEAG persistently urged the Government of Maharashtra to give its approval to the proposal for the ESZ declaration.

However, two years passed without response from the Government of Maharashtra, and BEAG finally decided to approach the Supreme Court.

In 2001, BEAG’s litigation in the Supreme Court resulted in the Supreme Court passing an order directing the Government of India to declare Matheran an ESZ to save it from environmental destruction.

Since it is the state government’s responsibility to demarcate areas in response to a judicial directive, the Government of Maharashtra immediately set up a committee to define the boundary of the ESZ and submitted it to the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests. (The ministry was renamed  Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2014.)

In February 2002, the Ministry of Environment and Forests published draft of the Matheran ESZ notification, inviting public comment and on February 4, 2003, the Ministry officially declared Matheran and its surrounding areas, including the hills of Prabul, Peb, and Malangad, an Eco-Sensitive Zone.

However, there was a major difference in the size of the ESZ area between the draft notification published by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2002 and the final notification published by it in 2003.

 In the preliminary Matheran ESZ notification, 498 square kilometres had been notified as the ESZ. However, a committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, chaired by Professor Mohan Ram, used a narrow definition of what constitutes ecological sensitivity and reduced the ESZ in the final notification to 251 square kilometres.

BEAG filed an interlocutory application in 2003 (IA 659 under CWP 202 / 1995, T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad Versus Union of India) with the Supreme Court to obtain an explanation from the Ministry for the reduction in the ESZ area, and, in its order of August 25, 2003 the Supreme Court asked the Ministry for an explanation.

The Ministry did not provide an explanation. Seventeen years later, on April 24, 2018,  the Supreme Court finally disposed of BEAG’s interlocutory application on Matheran with the observation that the proposal for declaring the area near Matheran as an eco-sensitive area had been issued in 2003 after all objections had been considered. 

Despite the reduction of the ESZ area, the entire town of Matheran and an area of more than 240 square kilometres around it, including the hills of Prabul, Peb and Malangad, had been included in the ESZ.

The final ESZ is 251.56 square kilometres in area, of which 200 metres is a buffer zone, 7.23 square kilometres is under the jurisdiction of Matheran Municipal Council, and the rest—the surrounding forests, villages, tribal areas, and agricultural areas—is under the jurisdiction of various administrative authorities.

The total population of the area in the Matheran ESZ is 125,000, as per Census 2011, nearly 27 per cent of it is tribal.

The major food crops produced in villages in the ESZ are rice, cereals, and vegetables. Horticulture is also widely practised.

All activities in the forests—both within the area managed by the Matheran Municipal Council and outside it—are governed by the provisions of the Indian Forest Act of 1927 and the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980. All activities in the protected areas are governed by the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

Monitoring Compliance —the ESZ Monitoring Committee

The 2003 ESZ notification by the Ministry of Environment and Forests mandated the constitution of an eight-member Monitoring Committee responsible for ensuring that all developmental activities in the ESZ complied with the Government of India’s directives and with the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986.

The notification further stipulated that the Monitoring Committee had to be reconstituted every two years.

The first Monitoring Committee constituted as per the 2003 ESZ notification had its first meeting on March 29, 2004.

The Monitoring Committee adjudicates on a wide spectrum of matters.

To date, the Committee has discussed issues such as the preparation of the Zonal Master Plan, the Sub Zonal Master Plans, the Tourism Master Plan, the Forest Master Plan, and the Forest Protection/ Management Plan, all of which were mandated in the ESZ notification.

The Committee is responsible for studying and approving all developmental activities in the ESZ to ensure that they are aligned with the objectives of the ESZ notification. Development proposals put forward by the various government authorities for any works to be undertaken in the ESZ are part of its monthly meeting agenda, as are ecological issues such as soil conservation and soil erosion control, air and water pollution, and the conservation of Charlotte Lake, Matheran’s main source of water.

Town planning is one of the chief concerns of the Committee’s mandated duties, so it regularly monitors issues relating to Matheran’s water supply, waste water management, solid waste management, drainage system issues, building repairs, materials to be used for retaining wall construction, and road paving, availability of ambulance, hospitals, and schools as well as supply of electricity and other amenities to villages in the ESZ. Until the approval of the Zonal Master Plan by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, all development activities including alterations, demolitions, repairs, renovations and restorations of buildings require prior approval of the Monitoring Committee.

Transportation and tourism issues such as road proposals, ropeway proposals, the transport of construction material to Matheran. valley crossing, the resumption of the railway shuttle service from Neral to Matheran also come up for detailed discussion.

The Committee is also considering proposals for the establishment of a Nature Interpretation Centre and a communication tower.

Minutes of Monitoring Committee Meetings

Although the ESZ notification had stipulated that a monitoring committee be reconstituted every two years, the directive has not always been strictly followed, often to the detriment of the people of Matheran and its environs.

The first Monitoring Committee was constituted in 2004 under the chairmanship of Shri Mukhopadyay held 4 meetings.

The second Monitoring Committee was reconstituted in 2009, after a gap of three years, under the chairmanship of Shri V. Ranganathan which held 10 meetings

The third Monitoring Committee was reconstituted in 2012, after a gap of one year, under the chairmanship of Shri V. Ranganathan which held 10 meetings.

The fourth Monitoring Committee was reconstituted in 2017, after a gap of three years, under the chairmanship of Shri W. Gorde which held 9 meetings.

An Interim Monitoring Committee was constituted in 2020, after a gap of one year, under the chairmanship of the Konkan Divisional Commissioner. In the year 2020, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the residents of Matheran approached the Bombay High Court requesting that they be allowed to secure the supply of essential goods by means of tempos and trucks during the lockdown due to the unavailability of delivery handcarts and horses. As the ESZ notification prohibits vehicular traffic in the Matheran ESZ, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change appointed an Interim Monitoring Committee on May 13, 2020 to have the goods brought to Matheran in a manner that was in compliance with the ESZ Notification. This Committee held 2 meetings.