Understanding the Map
This map highlights the importance of the Western Ghats to the Cauvery Basin, showing how the basin’s headwater catchments overlap with the forested landscapes along its western edge. These forests support biodiversity, regulate river flows and sustain many of the ecological processes that keep the river system healthy.
What the colours on the map represent?
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Yellow boundary – Cauvery Basin boundary
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Blue lines – The Cauvery and its major tributaries (The thicker line represents the Cauvery River originating in the western ghats and joining the Bay of Bengal)
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Green areas – Forested landscapes of the Western Ghats and other protected areas in the Cauvery Basin
All these layers have been overlayed on Google Satellite Imagery.
Map showing the Cauvery Basin highlighting the relevance of Western Ghats. The Western Ghats boundary was obtained from Open source Geospatial Foundation- India, International Institute of Information Technology Hyderbad with the support of Late Dr.Madhav Gagdil.
Understanding the Connection
The story of the Cauvery begins long before the river itself. It begins in the forests, streams, wetlands, and mountain landscapes of the Western Ghats.
Although the Western Ghats occupy only a part of the Cauvery Basin, they form its headwater catchments. These mountain landscapes receive some of the highest rainfall in peninsular India, giving rise to the Cauvery and many of its major tributaries. As rain falls over forests and natural landscapes, it is intercepted by vegetation, filtered through soils, stored in wetlands, and released gradually through springs and streams. These natural processes regulate river flows, maintain water quality, reduce erosion, and sustain ecosystems downstream.
The Western Ghats are recognised globally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of their exceptional biodiversity and ecological significance. Their importance extends far beyond the species they support. The forests, soils, wetlands, and freshwater ecosystems of the Western Ghats underpin the ecological processes that sustain the long-term health and resilience of the Cauvery Basin.
How protected are the landscapes that sustain the Cauvery?
The health of the Cauvery cannot be separated from the health of its headwater catchments. Changes to the forests and natural landscapes of the Western Ghats influence river flows, biodiversity, water quality and the ecological resilience of the basin far downstream.
Recognising their ecological importance, the Government of India has proposed notifying parts of the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The objective is to safeguard these fragile landscapes by regulating activities that could irreversibly alter their ecological character. Despite years of scientific assessments, public consultations and multiple draft notifications, a final ESA notification is yet to be issued.
In July 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued a fresh draft notification proposing Ecologically Sensitive Areas across the Western Ghats. The draft is once again open for public comments, even as the Karnataka Government has recommended rejecting the Kasturirangan Committee report and withdrawing the earlier 2024 draft notification.
