The Forest Department will convene a meeting of stakeholders of the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary on Sunday to discuss marking the revised Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the protected area.
An expert committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had earlier rejected the ESZ of the sanctuary, as the park managers had marked zero zone on the eastern and south-eastern sides of the protected area. However, they had included an extent of 1 km on other parts around the boundary of the sanctuary in the zone.
The park managers drew up the ESZ following the State government’s direction to exclude populated areas from the purview of the zones. The government directive was in the backdrop of public protests against inclusion of agricultural land in the zones. The expert committee, which reviewed the proposal, noted that no agricultural practices would be affected in the zones.
The decision to convene a wider meeting of stakeholders on Sunday was taken at a meeting of people’s representatives, called by the Forest Department, on Monday.
Antony John, MLA, who represents the area in the Assembly, wanted the department to completely exclude populated areas from the zones. Any decision to modify the zones shall be taken after wider consultations with all stakeholders, including people’s representatives and sections of society.
All decisions regarding the zones shall be taken in a transparent manner and taking people into confidence, the MLA said. He also wanted re-fixing of boundaries to be completed.
The alterations suggested for the ESZ, including marking of three waterbodies, which are extensions of the Periyar, in the zone were explained at the meeting, said B. Rahul, wildlife warden of the sanctuary.
Some participants were apprehensive about the fate of the holdings located inside the sanctuary. It was clarified that the zones would be marked outward from the boundary of the protected area. The proposals will be explained to people at the meeting to be held on Sunday, he added.
