Govt taking steps to bring number of villages down to 98: Satheesan
Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Wednesday said the state government had sought to limit the proposed ESA in the Western Ghats to 8,590 sq km across 98 villages.
Addressing a press conference here, Satheesan said there was no need for concern over the proposed ecologically sensitive area limits as the expert committee’s document was only a draft report.
He said the Kasturirangan report had earlier proposed 13,108 sq km as ESA in Kerala.
The previous UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy had appointed the Oommen V Oommen committee, which reduced the proposed area to 9,993.7 sq km covering 123 villages. Following the splitting of villages, the area was subsequently notified across 131 villages, he said.
The committee had proposed reducing the area by around 3,000 sq km from the earlier proposal of 13,000 sq km, Satheesan said, adding that the previous government had subsequently sought to bring the number of villages down to 98.
“The present draft has an area below 10,000 sq km, as recommended by the Oommen V Oommen committee. The government is taking steps to bring the number of villages down to 98,” he said.
The matter had already been brought before the expert committee, which had visited Keralam, he said.
Satheesan said he and State Environment Minister Sunny Joseph, along with officials, had held detailed discussions with the expert committee.
The fresh draft notification was issued as the validity of the previous draft notification was due to expire and needed to be extended, he said.
“There is no basis for any concern. The Forest Act is more stringent than the ESA provisions,” Satheesan said. Of the nearly 10,000 sq km currently under consideration, about 9,200 sq km comprises reserve forests, he said.
“The state’s demand is that the 9,990 sq km proposed by the Oommen V Oommen committee should be confined to 8,590 sq km covering 98 villages,” he said.
Another issue raised before the committee was that several villages contain both forest areas and densely populated regions. The government has sought to exclude populated areas from the ESA instead of declaring entire villages ecologically sensitive, he said.
The committee had indicated that the proposal could be considered, Satheesan said, adding that the government would continue the measures taken during the Oommen Chandy government and adopt a strong position on the issue.
The CM also responded to a question about the Railway Board’s decision to transfer the Mangaluru area, including Ullal, from the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway to the Mysuru Division of South Western Railway from October 1.
Satheesan said the state would convey its strong opposition to the proposed change by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) in person.
On relief for people affected by recent floods, he said scrutiny of applications would be completed expeditiously, and distribution of financial assistance would begin this week.
The report of the five-member committee appointed to study the landslide in connection with the Wayanad tunnel road project is expected to reach the government shortly, he said.
Regarding the row over football legend Lionel Messi’s proposed visit to Kerala, Satheesan said the complaint filed by the Sports Department had been forwarded to the Home department for further action.
He said a special investigation team was examining reports of alleged GST irregularities related to the proposed event.
