go to pressure groups

In what appears to be a repeat of widespread protests in 2013 against the demarcation of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) to protect the Western Ghats, the high ranges in Kerala, dominated by settler farmers, are turning turbulent again. While it was the sharp opposition to the Gadgil and Kasturirangan committee reports that led to protests earlier, this time it is the order issued by the Supreme Court. Maintenance of Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of 1 km around the forests Due to which unrest has spread.

Last week, Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran said: That this order will set a blow to the State’s efforts to exclude human settlements along the forest boundary from the Regulations on Development. Following this, the High Range Protection Council, which largely represents settler farmers and is headed by the church, has threatened to launch another round of protests, demanding legislation to circumvent the order.

The apex court’s direction will compel the state government to modify the ESZs of at least 10 protected areas, which were earlier marked as void after massive public resistance.

in 2014, The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution Urged the Center to exclude human settlements and agricultural land from 123 villages identified as ESAs by the Kasturirangan committee. The then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the House that Kerala’s stand is determined by the larger interests of the farmers. The government later said that only protected areas would be demarcated as ESAs, inviting criticism from environmentalists, who warned it would prove disastrous for the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats. He feared that a political consensus on excluding populated areas from the ESA would defeat the purpose of the notification.

Eight years later, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s reaction to the Supreme Court order is similar to Mr Chandy’s. He said that the LDF government is not in favor of converting human settlements into ESZs. Noting that Kerala has a peculiar situation in which the forest area is densely populated, he said that the priority of the government would be to protect the interests of the people.

It is pertinent that the order has not prescribed any new restrictions in the ESZ except a ban on the construction of permanent structures. Prohibited activities include commercial mining, installation of sawmills and major hydroelectric projects, commercial use of firewood, production of hazardous substances, and tourism activities such as flying aircraft and hot air balloons over the national park area and the discharge of waste and solid waste. Huh. For natural water bodies or terrestrial areas.

The draft notification issued by the Union Environment Ministry in April to declare ESZs around the Neyyar and Peppara wildlife sanctuaries in Thiruvananthapuram had also run into a wall of protest, with local bodies expressing apprehension that the rules would hamper development activities and eventually lead to . Phased migration from the region.

Significantly, the final notification on demarcation of ESAs in the Western Ghats spread over six states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat) is pending for almost nine years, with the stakeholder states demanding exclusion of more areas despite the devastation Is. Due to frequent natural calamities.

The Kerala government is trying to contain the unrest by excluding residential areas from the purview of the rules laid down by the ministry and the court. But succumbing to the compulsions of politics and the clout of pressure groups and religious leaders, it is losing sight of the larger issues of conservation and sustainable development. A state with 25 protected areas cannot afford to turn away from the protection of these valuable natural assets for the foreseeable future.

nandakumar.t@thehindu.co.in