CPI(M) Demands Centre Withdraw Move to Include Inhabited Western Ghats Areas in Eco-Sensitive Zones

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M) state secretariat has demanded that the central government withdraw its move to include inhabited areas of the Western Ghats in the list of Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs). The party said the central government's expert committee had rejected Keralam's recommendation to exclude these areas from the list without even conducting the necessary scrutiny. It called on the state government to abandon its passive approach and take the Centre's move seriously, with urgent intervention, adding that the CPI(M) would come out in opposition to any move that casts a shadow over the lives of the people living in these regions.

The recommendation had sought the complete exclusion of 31 villages in Idukki and Wayanad districts (28 of them in Idukki) and the partial exclusion of 92 villages in other districts. The LDF government had sought to confine the eco-sensitive designation strictly to forest areas. This recommendation was prepared after a detailed study by a district-level scrutiny committee headed by the District Collector, which also took into account the views of people in agricultural areas. However, the central government rejected Keralam's request to exclude inhabited areas from the eco-sensitive zone. It was the expert committee constituted by the Centre to build consensus with states on the Kasturirangan committee recommendations that rejected Keralam's proposal. The party said it was a serious matter that the committee had taken this one-sided decision without carrying out the necessary scrutiny or even a field survey.

Keralam had sought the exclusion of 4,548 sq km of land across 123 villages — comprising habitations, farmland and plantations — from the eco-sensitive zone. The LDF government's move was aimed at ensuring that, while preserving forest land and protecting the environment, the land and rights of the people were also safeguarded. Under this proposal, 31 villages — 28 of them in Idukki — would have been entirely excluded from the eco-sensitive zone. It is these very recommendations that the expert committee under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has rejected. If the central directive is implemented as it stands, it will adversely affect nearly 4.5 million people living in the hill regions.

If these areas are declared eco-sensitive, homes, hospitals, schools, government offices and places of worship would have to be demolished, and a complete ban would come into force on all activities, including new construction. This would plunge into crisis the lives of people who have lived and have been doing farming there for generations. The central and state governments, the party said, have a duty to ensure that the people of these regions can live without hardship, and the state secretariat said strong protests would emerge against the Centre's move to impose restrictions on the population in hilly regions.