Expert panel convenes meet to formulate State’s response to Kasturirangan report Legislators representing constituencies falling within the Western Ghats region in Kerala have reiterated their demand to exempt populated zones from the Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) demarcated by the Kasturirangan committee on conservation of the Western Ghats. MLAs from Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Palakkad, and Kannur raised the demand at a meeting convened by the expert panel constituted by the government to formulate the State’s response to the Kasturirangan committee report. They opposed the zonation of the Western Ghats region by the committee on the basis of villages, calling it unscientific. The legislators said the high population density in the demarcated areas would make the imposition of development curbs impractical and make life miserable. They feared that the committee’s proposal for a total ban on quarrying and mining in ESAs would make housing unaffordable for large sections and force builders to rely on costly imports, benefiting powerful business lobbies. The MLAs called for wide-ranging discussions involving political leaders, farmers and local self-government functionaries on the implications of the report. Government Chief Whip P.C. George, who represents Poonjar in Kottayam district, said the Kasturirangan committee had no right to impose curbs on Kerala, a State with 29 per cent of the land area under forests, compared to the national average of 19 per cent. Pointing out that 48 of the 123 villages earmarked as ESA were in Idukki, Udumbanchola MLA K.K. Jayachandran said it would cry halt to the development of the entire region and affect tourism potential. He said citizens were rising up in protest after village offices in some of the demarcated areas had stopped accepting land tax remittances. Devikulam MLA S. Rajendran said residents in many areas were living in fear of being evicted from their land. He wondered why the highlands were being singled out for “draconian curbs” when development controls in coastal areas and wetland regions were “flouted with impunity.” Highlighting the snowballing resistance to the Kasturirangan committee report, Thiruvambady MLA C. Moyinkutty said the report would take Kerala back to the bullock cart era. Ranni MLA Raju Abraham said the demarcation of ESAs would scuttle the development of Sabarimala and Nilackal and hamper the construction of mini hydel projects. He questioned the committee’s reliance on satellite imagery to demarcate the ESAs. Mannarkadu MLA N. Samsudheen said the proposal to close down quarries would affect mass housing projects for tribal people in Attappady. A different note Striking a different note, Kalpetta MLA M.V. Sreyams Kumar stressed the need to protect the Western Ghats for the generations to come. He said the declining crop productivity in Kerala had made it imperative to restore soil fertility. Restrictions on development were inevitable to protect forests, maintain biodiversity and tackle the impact of climate change, he said. Peerumade MLA E.S. Bijimol said residents in the areas earmarked as ESA were concerned over the curbs on ownership of land and the possibility of being evicted. George says Kasturirangan panel has no right to impose curbs on Kerala Sreyams Kumar says curbs on development necessary to protect nature