KOCHI: The forest department has received 63,500 complaints by 5pm on Saturday, the deadline for filing plaints regarding non-inclusion of structures located within the one-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Of these, 24,528 have been solved.
The local bodies involved in the field verification has been overwhelmed by a deluge of complaints, and only 28,494 structures have been verified and uploaded on the Asset Mapper app developed by the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre.
“Field verification and uploading of photos of structures located within ESZ will continue for one more week. We have set a one-week deadline to complete the work. If data processing is completed in time, the revised map will be presented before the SC when ESZ case comes up for hearing on January 11, said an official with forest minister’s office.
All genuine plaints will be addressed, says official
“All genuine complaints raised by the farmers will be addressed and there is no need for panic,” said the official. In many panchayats, the field survey is progressing and the uploading of pictures of the structures is being done parallelly. The minister’s office is monitoring the progress of the work on a daily basis.
A meeting held in Kochi corporation on December 30 had decided to geotag all buildings located within one sq km from the Mangalavanam bird sanctuary. There were complaints that there was no clarity in the map of the ESZ of Mangalavanam, which is located in the heart of Kochi city.