The Kerala government has published a forest department map that details human habitation, buildings and farmlands on the periphery of 22 protected forests spanning 115 densely populated villages in the State.
It is accessible online at https://kerala.gov.in/.
The government claims the map better reflects the block and plot-wise details of domiciliation in localities that could potentially fall under the Supreme Court-suggested one-km ecologically sensitive buffer zone (ESZ) around forests if imposed.
It said the map would serve as a benchmark for people living on the outer edge of forests to inform the government whether the authorities have overlooked their domains or erroneously included them as falling under ESZ in Kerala’s final report to the SC for the exemption of human habitats from the intended zone.
Granular database
The Forest department map purportedly includes more details than the satellite mapping conducted at the SC’s behest by the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre. The granular database incorporates survey numbers and detailed location maps.
Colour coding
The Forest department has colour coded the map for clarity. It has marked forests (green,) proposed buffer zone (pink), panchayats (black), commercial buildings (red), religious places of worship (yellow), educational institutions (blue) and residential areas (violet).
The government has moved for micro-level detailing of forest fringes to bolster its case in the SC for the total exemption of human habitats in Kerala from the proposed buffer zone.
It has also constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of the Former Chief Justice of the West Bengal High Court, Thottathil. B. Radhakrishnan, to conduct field studies and record the details of houses, commercial establishments and other structures in the suggested ESZ. (The public can petition the committee online at sezexpertcommittee@gmail.com).
January 7 deadline
The government has urged people to flag their complaints to the concerned authorities before the January 7 deadline. The SC has scheduled Kerala’s case against ESZ imposition in mid-January.
The SC suggested the establishment of a buffer zone to lessen the human impact on protected forests. However, it accorded States the right to seek relief from the ESZ by quantifying human habitation and development abutting forests as proof of overwhelming public interest.
The States could approach the SC by citing their case for enhancing, reducing or gaining exemption from the buffer zone by submitting their claim to the apex court via the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF). The onus is on State governments to prove “overwhelming public interest” to get immunity from the ESZ.
Survey slammed
The satellite survey report drew flak from stakeholders, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC), for “glossing over” hundreds of spartan homes, large swathes of cultivated land, public and commercial buildings and subsistence structures, chiefly mud and thatched constructions.
The affected public, fearing displacement, accused the government survey of prioritising conservation over livelihood. Opposition criticism and the threat of a KCBC-led mass agitation prompted the administration to put the satellite survey report on the back burner.
The government has also published a list of homes, public offices, shops, spartan constructions and subsistence structures, such as cattle sheds, that fall under the proposed ESZ.
Overwhelming public interest
It hopes to prove Kerala’s case that “overwhelming public interest” demanded total exemption for the State from the ESZ.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stressed Kerala’s peculiar situation, which warranted the total exclusion of human habitats from the suggested buffer zone.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. Vijayan said the State would make the case in the SC that forests covered an estimated 34 per cent of Kerala’s densely populated geographical area.
The Arabian Sea bounded the State on one side and the Western Ghats (48 per cent of Kerala’s land mass) on the other. Inhabitable land was at a premium in the State. The ESZ, if imposed, could dispossess thousands of families of their lands and means of livelihood. Such a move would have disastrous social and economic consequences for Kerala.
