The Cabinet on Wednesday said it would move the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to gain exemption from the Supreme Court’s order imposing an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) that virtually banned human activity and development within a one-kilometre radius of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.
The State’s forest cover constituted nearly 30% of its geographical expanse. Moreover, a large segment of the State’s population lives in localities abutting forests and ecologically sensitive wetlands. There are 23 such protected areas in Kerala.
The government has sought exclusion of human habitats, farmlands, government and quasi-government offices and public utilities from the ESZ.
