Kerala is all set to formally declare 22 selected areas around its national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs). The State Forest Department has submitted a proposal in this regard to the state government.
The Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF) has extended the deadline for the declaration of the ESZs, which has come as a major relief for Kerala, as the state has been lagging behind its counterparts in notifying the zones.
“As per the MoEF’s directive, the Forest Department has already submitted a proposal with 22 ESZs around the national parks and sanctuaries, including Periyar Tiger Reserve, Parambikkulam Tiger Reserve and the Silent Valley national park. The recommendations were made on February 8. Now it’s for the state government to proceed on the same,” said a senior Forest official.
As per the new MoEF directive, the deadline for declaration of ESZs has been extended by three months, from February 15 to May 15. It is learnt that the decision was taken based on requests from various state governments. About 100 ESZ proposals have been received from Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, sources said.
The Union Ministry had issued guidelines for constituting Eco-Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in October 2011.
Later, in an official communication on December 31, 2012, the MoEF directed all states to declare ESZs within the deadline. The communication had warned that ‘the activities that have been prohibited as per the guidelines, would stand prohibited within 10 km of the boundary of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, if the declaration is not carried out.’
Meanwhile, it has been pointed out that the proposed Eco-sensitive Zones would be similar to the demarcation suggested by the Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP).
“We’ll look into the ESZs suggested by the Forest Department. There could be similarities between the two,” said V S Vijayan, a member of the Gadgil panel, which had recommended restriction on construction activities in certain zones.
