Western Ghats Report: Kerala to oppose buffer zone in any populated area

May 08, 2013 04:17 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 11:18 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

A file picture of panoramic view of Western Ghats from Idukki district. Photo: H. Vibhu.

A file picture of panoramic view of Western Ghats from Idukki district. Photo: H. Vibhu.

Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to oppose declaration of any populated area on the Western Ghats in the State as ecologically sensitive area.

In its response to the report of the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats chaired by K. Kasturirangan, the Cabinet said that Kerala was particular that no settlement area that had been populated for years should be declared as sensitive area on the recommendation of the Group.

Briefing the media, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the Group had recommended 22 ecologically sensitive areas in Kerala with buffer zone of 12 km. Kerala were not opposed to protection of environment or buffer zones. However, it wanted the buffer zone to be brought down to zero, if the area is populated. Depending on the presence of population, the buffer zone should be zero to 12 km from the sensitive area.

Replying to a question, the Chief Minister said that cardamom estates could not be sensitive areas as they are populated. He denied large scale felling of forest trees from the estates.

He said that Kerala was ahead of other states in protection of forests and wildlife. It had higher area under forests than the national average. The government was committed to preventing encroachment of forests and the extent of encroachments after 1977 was limited, he claimed.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.