The state government has set up a four-member committee to get views and comments of stakeholders on declaring the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg wildlife corridor as an ecologically sensitive zone. The committee comprises the chief conservator of forests (Kolhapur), collector (Sindhudurg), chief agricultural officer (Sindhudurg) and deputy forest officer (Sawantwadi). The committee must submit its report within a fortnight. There are 22 villages in the wildlife corridor. . The Union ministry of environment and forests recently accepted the Dr K Kasturirangan high-level working group (HLWG) committee report on the Western Ghats. The HLWG had recommended that except the wildlife corridor, the moratorium on mining in the rest of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg district can be lifted. —Clara Lewis