THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Expressing the State Government’s disappointment over the Central Government not issuing the final notification of Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), even six months after the Green Tribunal order, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the state has again urged the Centre to take steps to speed up the issue of notification.
’While Western Ghats is spread over six states in India, only Kerala has completed the mapping of 123 villages, collected the opinions of the people in these areas and submitted the report to the Central Government. The state should not be punished because other states are lagging behind in preparing the report though the Green Tribunal has asked them to do so,’’ the Chief Minister said.