The State government has endorsed the demand of local bodies to exclude human-inhabited areas from the proposed Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Neyyar and Peppara wildlife sanctuaries.
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, who convened a meeting of people’s representatives and senior Forest officials here on Friday, also assured local bodies to urge the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to review its draft notification by incorporating the revised proposals that were submitted last year.
According to him, the State government had excluded human habitations completely from its recommendations in 2021. While the draft notification has proposed to bring an area of 71.27 sq.km under the ESZ, the State had demanded that the extent be confined to 52.036 sq.km. This would limit the zone to those parts of the Amboori, Kallikkad, Vithura and Kuttichal grama panchayat that remained unoccupied. Besides, the tribal communities in these regions would be provided priority.
