Draft notification on ESZ sparks protests in Wayanad

A draft notifiacation has created ripples in the Kerala politics. The Environment Ministry’s draft notification on an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) in Wayanad (north Kerala) which runs around the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary has triggered a fresh round of protest. LDF and UDF workers have burnt copies of the draft notification and staged demonstrations in the district since Thursday.

According to the draft notification published by the ministry, the ESZ will cover an area of 118.59 km which includes 8.89 km of the Tirunelly reserve forest of north Wayanad and 17.67 km of Chedelaythu range in south Wayanad. Rich in biodiversity, the 344 sq km Wayanad wildlife sanctuary is a favourite habitat of elephants and tigers.  Green Activists have welcomed the notification. “It will help curtail human incursions into wildlife habitat and lessen man-animal conflict and preserve endemic flora and fauna,” said Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti, a prominent group of environmentalists and nature lovers.

State forest minister K Raju has said the government would study the latest notification in detail and there is no need of any apprehension now. Last year the government had asked the Union Environment Ministry to amend ESZ provisions while fixing buffer zones around sanctuaries and excluding human habitat.“If the notification is approved at least 30 per cent of Wayanad’s total area will come under the ESZ. Where will people go? Thousands of people will be displaced. We need forests but at the same time people should also be allowed to live,” said district Congress leader N D Appachan. He said the state government’s indifferent attitude led to the notification. But the government has denied this.

The state had witnessed violent protest in 2012 against two expert committee reports, Gadgil and Kasturirangan, aimed at protecting the fragile ecology of the Western Ghats. In Kerala, the Catholic Church was in the forefront of the agitation because a majority of the ecologically sensitive areas come under the Christian belt. People living in fringe areas of the forest say many human settlements will come under the zone and the new announcement will cripple their lives. 

Rahul Gandhi is the MP from Wayanad.  With assembly elections just two months away, the issue is bound to dominate the politcs . Congress and LDF is blaming each other for this notification. Both are busy chalking out their strategies to exploit the situation.