Experts Say Kasturirangan Report Does Not Ban Construction, Cultivation, Tourism And Infrastructure Development In Villages In ESA Viju B Chief minister Oommen Chandy may have succumbed to political pressure from UDF allies, quarry owners and church authorities, who want a drastic reduction in the number of villages categorized as Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA) as per the Kasturirangan committee report. Supporting this viewpoint, Chandy had raised concerns that the ESA categorization of villages may impact development in the areas situated close to the Western Ghats But an analysis of the Kasturirangan committee report shows that the report has not banned construction activity, cultivation of cash crops, promotion of tourism and improvement of infrastructure in the villages under ESA. The report bans quarrying and mining activity in villages under ESA. Senior officials with Kerala state biodiversity board (KSBB) said that there has been a misinformation campaign against the ESA concept and vested interest groups are trying to dilute the Kasturirangan report just like they campaigned against the Gadgil panel report. “The report has also included rubber plantations as green cover and this naturally comes under ESA. But the report does not mention anywhere that the landowners cannot conduct construction activity in these areas. So we need to remove many such apprehensions from public memory,” said KSBB member-secretary K P Lala Dhas, adding that the report scrutinized parameters like biodiversity, population density, wild life corridor, green cover, water bodies, farming, plantations crops and proximity to the Western Ghats for ESA categorization. Officials point out that there has also been confusion among people on the definition of ecologically fragile land (EFL) and ecological sensitive area (ESA). EFL land comes under forest department and is governed by the Forest Conservation Act, while ESA would be governed by local administration and pollution control board. “ESA is outside the purview of the forest department and this is demarcated so that it helps in preserving green zones and increases the quality of life of people staying along the Western Ghats,” he said. Of the 123 villages that has been marked ESA, Idukki tops the list with 58 villages, followed by Palakkad (14) and Wayanad (13). In Idukki, Udumbanchola taluk has 23 villages under ESA followed by Devikulam (12) and Peermade (8). Similarly, in Malappuram there are 10 villages under ESA and eight in Kollam. In Wayanad district, Vythiri (7) has the maximum number of ESAs. The three-member expert committee, on a site visit to ESA areas along the Western Ghats, will submit a detailed report to the government on the concerns and suggestions raised by people staying in ESA areas “While some concerns like not cutting trees in ESAs and restriction of construction activity are genuine, there has been a misinformation campaign against the report. There were frivolous queries like as per the report only three cows can be reared in a household and additional rooms cannot be made in a house,” a committee member said.