THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a move to pacify protesters on the buffer-zone issue, the state government has come out with a slew of follow-up measures. It has asked local self governments (LSGs) to carry out an awareness programme regarding eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) and enable people, whose houses, farmland, or other buildings are included in the published satellite survey, to file their complaints in detail through the pro forma.
The government’s decision is seen as a move to allay the concerns of the Catholic Church and high-range farmers’ organisations. The church has dismissed the satellite survey as a farce.
The current issue arose after the satellite map of the ESZ buffer zone was published on the government website. The details and the constructions identified in the satellite survey failed to add up. The government had decided on a one-kilometre buffer zone around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
It also decided on a zero buffer zone for populated areas. But the satellite survey carried out by the Kerala State Remote Sensing And Environment Centre (KSREC) was largely obscure and the incomplete reports are proving to be damaging for the government. “The government should have approached the Forest Survey of India or the Survey of India for the satellite survey,” a forest official told TNIE on condition of anonymity.
“The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report and the ESZ are entirely two different things. The Supreme Court had said it would consider the state’s recommendation as an ESZ area positively. So there is no need for such anguish. The government has to have clarity in its action. It should take the people into confidence,” he added.
Meanwhile, the expert committee members, while dismissing the option of satellite survey by other institutes, pointed out that that could prove costly affair. It was also learned from a highly placed source that the state government’s recommendation of a zero buffer zone in Wayand earlier had not gone well with the central ministry of environment and forests.
However, a buffer zone proposal around the Chimmini Wild Life Sanctuary and Peechi and Eravikulam National Park had been approved. The government also said that if any of the construction had been omitted in the report prepared by the KSREC, people can file such details in the pro forma through eszexpertcommittee@gmail.com within December 23. Or, they can send it via post to: Joint Secretary, Department of Forest and Wildlife, 5th floor, Secretariat Annex 2 Building, the government order issued on Saturday said.
The government instructed the LSGs to display the report detailing houses, institutions and other constructions within the one-kilometre circumference at the respective local self institutions, in a manner visible to the public. “To inform the people about the actions related to the preparation of ESZ areas and declaring them later the local government institution should initiate campaigns at ward level to make awareness,” the additional chief secretary of LSGD said.