From conducting field-level surveys to running help desks to allay public concerns, local bodies in the State have their task cut out in addressing issues that have cropped up regarding the ecologically sensitive buffer zones around forests. The Forest department has published a map detailing human habitations, buildings, and farmlands on the periphery of 23 protected forests spanning 115 densely populated villages in the State. The survey numbers included in the draft map will be updated soon. Public can bring errors that have cropped up in the map to the department till January 7.
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The local bodies have been asked to operate help desks to help the public submit information regarding habitations to the Forest department and to address their concerns. Operating of mobile help desks is also suggested. Legal as well as illegal structures will be considered in this information gathering exercise. A pro forma will be made available for this purpose at the help desks as well as in the State government website. As per initial reports, complaints from the public have already started piling up. The complaints that reach the Forest department are classified local body-wise and handed over to the respective local bodies for field-level surveys and geotagging.
The State government has tasked the secretaries of local bodies to form committees consisting of a ward or panchayat member from an area which is part of the buffer zone and officials from the Forest, Local Self-government and Revenue departments, to conduct field-level surveys based on information submitted by the public. The information gathered from the field-level surveys has to be geotagged and entered into an application developed by the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre. Technically qualified volunteers, engineering students, or Kudumbashree auxiliary members will be included in the committee for this purpose.
All-party meetings
The local body-appointed committees will also strive to allay the fears of the public by providing clear information on the zone boundaries and survey numbers. A monitoring committee will be formed at the district level, consisting of the district panchayat president, vice president, district Collector and district heads of the various departments to oversee the work at the local body-level. All-party meetings will have to be held at the local bodies to verify the information gathered from the region. The Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) will prepare a manual regarding information gathering and field-level surveys.