Thrissur: A panel constituted to work on demarcating ecologically-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state on Monday visited the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad and held deliberations with the public. The panel members, comprising MLAs T N Prathapan, N Shamsudeen and state wildlife board officials, decided to recommend to the Union ministry of environment and forests to declare the entire 148-sq km buffer zone around the park as an ecologically-sensitive zone. The decision was taken at a meeting the panel had with the residents in Mukkali. Prathapan told TOI that they had completed sitting in Kannur, Kozhikode, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. “We got good public support in all these districts. In Mukkali too, people raised no objection against declaring the 148-sq km buffer zone around the Silent valley National Park as eco-sensitive. People said they were ready to support the efforts of declaring an eco-sensitive zone but it should not affect their livelihood and existence.” The national park is situated on 89.52sqkm and the remaining 148 sqkm is a buffer zone, attached from Mannarkad and Nilambur South divisions in 2007. Prathapan said there were some residential areas inside the buffer zone and declaring it as eco-sensitive zone would not affect their existence except that there would some control on construction activities. There is also a drinking water factory, the functioning of which has been suspended following a legal dispute, and a resort in the buffer zone. The panel will hold sittings in Parambikulam on Wednesday and Thrissur the next day.