Last Updated: 11.06.24

BEAG had been active in the Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani area since 1983. In 1985, the  Government of Maharashtra formulated the first Regional Plan for the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani region, which governed the non-municipal areas, as well as the Development Plans (including the Development Control Regulations), which governed the towns of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani.

In May 1997, finding that severe environmental and heritage site degradation had resulted from willful violations of the Development Plans regulations, BEAG filed a  writ petition (WP 2754/1997) in the Bombay High Court.

Photos of constructions violating the G + 1 rule as per the Development Control Regulations (DCR) within the Municipal Limits of Mahabaleshwar, 1996. 

Deforestation – 1) Trees burnt near Tapola road, 2) Trees and bushed cleared exposing land to erosion near Metgutad Village, Mahabaleshwar

In response to BEAG’s writ petition, the High Court appointed a committee to investigate the violations. The committee submitted a Report with than 1,000 violations.

It was a serious situation. The High Court had issued several directives ordering compliance with the law and the regulations, but local developers and property-owners had great influence, if not control, over the municipalities. In fact, many municipal councilors had themselves built hotels that were prima face illegal and had been putting a great deal of pressure on the state government to amend the regulations and change the zoning of green zones to permit more construction. While the High Court could ensure adherence to the regulations, it would be helpless if the regulations themselves were changed.

Hoping that the declaration of the plateau as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) would forestall all these pressures and bring the region under the stringent controls of the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, BEAG presented an ESZ proposal to the Government of India’s Environment Minister in November 1998.

The Government of Maharashtra was also concerned about the fragility of the Mahabaleshwar plateau’s ecology. An environmental assessment conducted by a committee it had appointed said conclusively in its Report in 2000 that without protection, the plateau’s ecology would be irreparably damaged.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s committee on the designation of ecologically sensitive areas in India also urged the Government of India to accord special protection to areas identified as ecologically sensitive or fragile.

On July 25, 2000, after two years of ceaseless campaigning by BEAG, the Government of India issued a draft notification announcing its intention to declare Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani Region an Eco-Sensitive Zone, and on January 17, 2001, the final notification under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, was published by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, officially declaring the Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani Region an Eco-Sensitive Zone.

Thus, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani became the first hill stations in India to be so designated, a culmination of BEAG’s efforts since 1983, and the beginning of a new era of environmental protection.

The entire plateau encompassing the two municipal areas of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani along with 60 villages was declared as an ESZ in 2001. The total area of the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani ESZ (MPESZ) is 237 square kilometres.

The MPESZ boundary is a Regional Plan boundary, not an ecological boundary. The ecological boundary extends on all sides — all the way to Raigad in the north-west and to Ratnagiri in the south-west. But since it would have been difficult for three collectors of three separate districts to administer the ESZ, only the Satara district is included in the MPESZ.

In its  ESZ notification, the Government of India regulated construction (height of buildings, maximum number of storeys), locations where industries may be permitted, types of industries permitted, tourism facilities (which were to also be detailed in a Tourism Master Plan), quarrying and mining, felling of trees, construction on hill slopes, effluent disposal, disposal of solid waste, use of plastic, extraction of ground water, and so on. It also provides specification of conversion of land from green uses (forests, horticulture areas, other green areas) to non-green uses. The ESZ notification also has specific provisions for the conservation of heritage sites, both natural and man-made.

Monitoring Committee

The Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) notification of January 2001 stipulated that a High-Level Monitoring Committee (HLMC) be constituted to oversee adherence to the provisions of the notification. Nine months later, the Environment Ministry had set up the HLMC, which included BEAG members.

The HLMC became a central authority coordinating the activities of several government departments — Revenue, Forest, Public works, Police — and the municipalities of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani, which had often worked without coordination and sometimes at cross purposes.

HLMC  meeting chaired by Dr Ankur Patwadhan in progress Credit: BEAG Archive

It is also now  a citizens’ forum where residents environmental complaints can be promptly dealt with.

Longer-term issues taken up by the HLMC included the finalization of Zonal Master Plan, and the initiation of plans for traffic management, solid waste disposal, and plastics disposal, as well as the survey of the bio-diversity in the MPESZ.

Monitoring Committee Minutes Archive

The first HLMC was constituted under the chairmanship of Shri Jamsheed Kanga (2001-2005) The Committee held 14 Meetings

The second HLMC was reconstituted under the chairmanship of Shri B.N.Bahadur. After Shri B N Bahadur’s resignation, the same committee was once again re-constituted under the chairmanship of Shri Dev Mehta (2008-2010). The Committee held 5 Meetings

The third HLMC was reconstituted once again under the chairmanship of Shri Dev Mehta  (2010-2012). The Committee held 11 Meetings and also submitted a report to the  Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The fourth HLMC was reconstituted under the chairmanship of Shri Karandikar (2014 – 2016). The Committee held 6 Meetings

The fifth HLMC was reconstituted under the chairmanship of Dr Ankur Patwardhan (2017 – 2020). The Committee held 8 Meetings.

The sixth HLMC, from here on officially changed to be referred as Monitoring Committee (MC) was reconstituted under the chairmanship of Shri Sudhakar Nangure (2023 – present).