Kerala ESA proposal fails to ease Pathanamthitta concerns

Kerala’s revised proposal on ecologically sensitive areas has failed to settle concerns in Pathanamthitta, where residents fear restrictions on forest-fringe communities and farmland. The State government has asked that inhabited areas and agricultural land be excluded from the Ecologically Sensitive Area regime. However, none of the seven villages in Pathanamthitta covered by the Centre’s draft notification has been proposed for complete exclusion.

The villages are Chittar, Seethathode, Aruvappulam and Thannithode in Konni taluk, and Vadasserikkara, Perunad and Kollamula in Ranni taluk. All seven were classified as red zones in the draft, prompting residents to submit thousands of collective and individual objections before the September 25 deadline. Farmer organisations say large portions of the proposed areas are inhabited and that some already contain projects, including hydroelectric schemes.

They also argue that many residents are settler farmers who moved to the region decades ago. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has led protests against the proposal in the district, accused the Congress-led United Democratic Front government of ignoring farmers’ concerns. District secretary Raju Abraham said farmers feared they might have to stop cultivation if the notification was finalised.

The party announced a black day on September 28 and warned of larger protests. Ranni legislator Pazhakulam Madhu offered a different reading of the State proposal. He said Environment Minister Sunny Joseph had informed him that inhabited areas and agricultural land in the affected constituencies had been excluded, with only areas requiring ecological protection retained.

Madhu cited reductions in the areas proposed for retention in Perunad, Kollamula and Vadasserikkara. Overall, the area proposed to remain under the ESA regime in Pathanamthitta would fall from 1,543.01 square kilometres to 1,308.25 square kilometres, according to his explanation.