CM writes to PM on eco-sensitive zones around wildlife park

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday sought Prime Minister NarendraModi's intervention to ensure densely populated areas aroundthe Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary were excluded by theEnvironment Ministry while notifying eco-sensitive zones.

Considering what he saw as a genuine apprehension of thepeople living adjacent to the sanctuary, the Chief Ministerin a letter to Modi said the latter should intervene and givedirections to the Ministry for an early hearing on thematter.

Areas near the sanctuary such as Tholpetty, Kattkkulam,Panavalli, Kurukkanmoola, Chaligadha and Kappistore,Cheeyambam , Moodakolly, Cheeral need to be excluded from thenotification, the Chief Minister said.

Otherwise, it would affect the lives of the people asthey have only modest means of livelihood,he said in theletter a copy of which was released to the media here.

The Kerala government had made recommendations fornotifying eco-sensitive zones around 21 protected areas inDecember 2019.

However, after considering the concerns of the peoplenear the sanctuary, the government submitted an amendedproposal for the draft notification on January 13 last yearas per which the extent of eco-sensitive zone measures to88.2 sq kms.

But, the notification issued by the Ministry recentlynotified 118.59 sq kms around the sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone.

The sanctuary withan extent of 344.44 kms has differentspecies of wild animals, and is home to the rare andendangered species of floraand fauna.

Meanwhile, protests were held against the notification inWayanad district.

The supporters of the ruling LDF (Left Democratic Front)blocked traffic at various places in the district on Sundayand the opposition Congress-led UDF (United Democratic Front)has planned a hartal on Monday.

Activists of both the fronts had burned copies of thedraft notification and staged demonstrations in the districton Friday.