Kannur: The CPM will organise sustained protests against the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification in Kannur district, bringing together organisations representing different sections of society, party district secretary K K Ragesh said on Friday.

The protests will be held in Cheruvanchery, Kottiyoor and Aralam regions, where the notification has raised concerns over its impact on residents and farmers. The party will organise house-to-house campaigns and mobilise community groups, rather than confining the agitation to its own cadres, Ragesh said at a press conference in Kannur on Friday.

He blamed the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government’s 2014 submission to the Union government for the continuing dispute over the extent of Kerala’s ESA. The report had identified 9,993.7 sq km in the state as ecologically sensitive, a figure retained in subsequent draft notifications, including the seventh issued in July this year, he said.

The LDF government later conducted ground-truthing and revised the extent to 8,590.69 sq km across 98 villages in 2024, excluding residential buildings and identifying ecologically fragile areas on the ground. The Union government, however, has been reluctant to accept the revised assessment, citing the state’s earlier submission, Ragesh said.

He accused the UDF government of creating the problem and the present state government of failing to press the Union government effectively to accept the findings of the scientific assessment. He also criticised the Centre for adopting a mechanical approach to the issue.

The notification threatens to compound the difficulties faced by people in the hilly regions, where wildlife attacks and restrictions linked to the ESA issue are adding to the pressures on farming communities, Ragesh said.

“People once moved to these hilly areas to settle. Now they are leaving because of wild animal attacks and the problems arising from the ESA notification,” he said.
The CPM will announce the details of its protest programmes later.