Kerala's push for ecologically sensitive area relaxations raises eyebrows

Resentment is brewing among environmentalists and disaster management experts in Kerala as the ruling and Opposition parties are pushing for further relaxation in Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) despite the back-to-back calamities that the state has witnessed.

Enough relaxations have been made in ESAs, and hence, further relaxations could be termed only as disastrous, and it could be seen only as a move to help the quarry lobbies and not due to genuine concerns for the high-range farmers, say environmentalists and experts, including Madhav Gadgil.

The state is now pressing for exempting 1,337.24 square kilometres more in the ESAs. Even the Centre's suggestion to classify such regions as non-core was not welcomed by the Kerala government. The final notification of the Centre on ESA is expected by the end of December, 2021.

The K Kasturirangan panel's recommendation that 13,108.7 square kilometres of land in the state needed to be demarcated as ESA itself was considered as dilution of the Madhav Gadgil led panel's recommendations.

The state government again appointed a committee headed by former chairman of Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Oommen V Oommen committee, and another committee headed by IAS officer P H Kurian with the objective of exempting inhabited areas from ESA.

Based on these panels' recommendations, the state government sought further reduction of 3,114.30 square kilometres, which was already approved. Hence ESA in Kerala as per the draft notification of 2018 is 9,993.7 square kilometres. However, the state is now pressing for further reduction in ESA by 1,337.24 square kilometres and limit ESA demarcation to 8,656.46 square kilometres.

Both the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front and Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front are quite unanimous in the matter and the justification being given is the livelihood of high-range farmers.

Gadgil told DH that if the political leadership was really concerned about the high-range people they should have accepted the recommendation of his report that suggested imposing region-wise restrictions by collection the suggestion of local Gram Sabhas.

The local people of high-ranges very well knew that the extensive quarrying activities in the sensitive regions were aggravating the impact of the natural calamities. The recent disasters at Koottickal in Kottayam district is a clear instance as the locals had been opposing the extensive quarrying activities in the region.

K G Thara, former head of Kerala Disaster Management Centre, said that there was no surprise the ruling and Opposition parties were seeking further relaxations in ESA as the successive governments in Kerala hardly took a pro-ecology stand, but only initiated measures that favoured quarrying and allowed wetland conversion.

N Badush, president of the 'Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti', a forum of environmentalists, said that further relaxations would mean that no more restrictions would be required as the 8,656.46 square kilometres of ESA being suggested by the Kerala government would comprise of only reserve forests, protected areas and World Heritage sites, where restrictions under other laws were already prevailing.

Check out latest DH videos here