In the wake of the Kerala High Court order that extended the deadline for filing objections related to the draft notification on buffer zone around the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, various farmers’ organisations in Kozhikode district are preparing to launch a series of campaigns and protests to make people aware about the alleged flaws in finalising boundaries for the proposed buffer zone. The Chakkittapara grama panchayat is likely to emerge as the centre of protest as the majority of affected residents are from there.
One of the major issues raised by the farmers’ organisations is the “faulty geo-coordinates” used to fix the boundaries for the buffer zone. They said no scientific study or field survey was done to properly measure the protective zone around the sanctuary. According to them, the available geo-spatial data on Google Maps is the sole source of the existing boundary and it is hardly reliable.
“The majority of the landholders are not yet aware of the unscientific measures used for fixing the buffer zone boundaries. We have reasons to believe that all the existing boundary details were prepared in an amateur way by a few officers without visiting the spots,” said Joy Kannanchira, chairman of ‘We Farm’, who approached the court for the extension of the deadline for filing objections.
Functionaries of various farmers’ organisations such as Indian Farmers Movement and Karshaka Raksha Samithi pointed out that the buffer zone regulations, if implemented without proper amendments, would affect the lives of people in 13 villages in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Residents in Chembanoda, Chakkittapara, Changaroth, Perambra, Koorachundu, Kanthalad, Puthuppadi, Kattippara, Kedavoor, Thariyod, Pozhuthana, Achooranam and Kunnathinadu villages would primarily face the impact of the proposal, they claimed.
The farmers’ organisations said it was an attempt at massive eviction and acquisition of farmland for forest conservation. A concerted effort is under way to ensure the support of church authorities, political parties and social movements for the farmers’ agitation. The main demand of the agitators is that the buffer zone proposal should be withdrawn and the sanctuary must be conserved by creating a clear boundary within the forestland alone.
“Whatever be the plan of the government, we will fight by all means to prevent the implementation of a wrong plan. Farmers are willing to join massive street protests for the cause,” said Mr. Kannanchira, one of the State-level coordinators of the upcoming campaign. He said the geo-coordinates for defining the boundaries would not be accepted without conducting a fresh field-level assessment.
