Explanation:

Only statement 2nd is correct.

• In the aftermath of this week’s devastating landslide in Wayanad in Kerala, the Union government has re-issued — for the sixth time in a decade — a draft notification classifying parts of the Western Ghats in six States as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs). 

• A committee steered by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, was formed to examine the degree of protection needed in the Western Ghats recommended in 2011.

Gadgil Committee

• Also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), it recommended that all of the Western Ghats be declared as the Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESA) with only limited development allowed in graded zones.

• It recommended that the entire region be declared as ecologically sensitive. 

• Following consultations with residents, industrialists, and government officials connected to the Western Ghats States, the Gadgil panel recommended the creation of three broad zones – ESA 1, ESA 2 and ESA 3 – with the first two inviting the strictest restrictions on economic activity. 

• With the States unwilling to accept the recommendations, a second committee led by former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan reconvened the exercise and halved the area of protected regions.

Hence option 2nd is correct.