In a follow-up to the recent Supreme Court order on the demarcation of ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) around protected forests and wildlife sanctuaries, the State government is conferring with the Advocate General to explore the possibility of filing a review petition so that the human habitats on the fringes of protected areas can be excluded from the restrictions.
Addressing the media here on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government had already written to the Centre on the State’s predicament and was following up the matter. All necessary steps in this regard would be adopted to alleviate the apprehensions of people and protect their livelihoods.
The basic stand of the government was that human habitats be spared from being included in the ecologically sensitive zones. The Union government had been apprised of this in 2020 itself, he said.
