The eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) has the most number of subsisting structures, at 20,045, as per the final report. The Thottatthil Radhakrishnan committee and the technical expert committee formed for preparing a list of these structures had finalised its report the other day. It will be submitted to the State government on Monday.
The WWS is followed by the Periyar Tiger Reserve with 8,507 units and Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary (5,745 units). The ESZs of Karimpuzha Wildlife Sanctuary (77 units) and Pampadum Shola National Park (79 units), which are surrounded by thick forest, were the least occupied ones.
Field, satellite surveys
The committees had eliminated the 13,356 units located outside the one-km buffer zone in the final count. In some areas, the assets mapped using satellite data were not covered in the field survey as they were located in inaccessible terrains. These assets were also included in the final map, according to the final report.
During the mapping of the assets in the ESZ, the committee marked schools, hospitals, and residential and commercial units as points on the map. Lines were used to represent roads, drainages and canals. Ponds, agricultural lands and forests were shown as polygons on the map by the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSRSEC), which demarcated the ESZ with subsisting structures around the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
How map was prepared
The final map and list of structures were prepared by the KSRSEC by vetting and collating the data it had collected through a mobile application, satellite images, and the data provided by the general public. The map of each protected area is complete with the land-use pattern, number of subsisting structures, and flora and fauna of each area. The general topography details of all the surveyed areas are also included in the report.
