In a significant move, the Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to rectify a 2019 decision and exclude human settlements from the purview of eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) around the boundaries of protected forests.
In 2019, the then CPI(M) government had decided to recommend that a 1 km area around the boundaries of protected forests, including human settlements, should be ESZs.
The Cabinet decision to exempt human settlements from the ESZ purview will help the CPI(M) government save face in the backdrop of the Opposition alleging that the government was not sincere in its approach to protect the interest of farmers.
Following the June 3 Supreme Court verdict to establish 1 km ESZs around national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and protected forests, Kerala has been witnessing widespread protests in the hilly regions of the state. The Opposition Congress and the Catholic Church have been leading the agitations, in which the CPI(M) had drawn flak for its 2019 decision.
Early this month, the Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union Government to drop all human settlements, agricultural areas and civic infrastructure from the purview of the ESZ. The Opposition had questioned the Kerala government’s sincerity in addressing the concerns of the farmers in the high ranges of the Western Ghats and the government’s failure to nullify the Cabinet decision of 2019 was construed as CPI(M)’s double standards on the issue.
The issue also came to the limelight after CPI(M)’s student wing SFI vandalised the office of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, alleging that he had not intervened in the issue. Subsequently, the government had convened a high-level meeting to address the situation emerging out of the June 3 Supreme Court verdict.
As part of steps to allay fears of farmers and people living close to protected forest areas, the state government has also decided to submit a modification petition in the Supreme Court, as well as to approach the Central Empowered Committee to get exemptions on the verdict.
Kerala has 23 protected forest areas, of which 12 are wildlife sanctuaries, 3 bird sanctuaries, five national parks and two tiger reserves.
Kerala’s forest cover, as per data available from 2019-20, is 11,521 square km, which forms 29.65 per cent of the state’s total geographical area. This ratio of forest to total geographical areas is much higher than the national average of 6.09 per cent. The state’s forest cover has also been going up with an increase of 823 square km from 2017.
