Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode: With the Kerala Government publishing a draft map demarcating buffer zones around 22 wildlife sanctuaries complaints over “inclusions and omissions” are pouring in.
Many human habitations, commercial buildings, government institutions, and places of worship have been erroneously shown on the map as falling under the proposed buffer zones or Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs).
Adding to the concern and confusion, the government website turned inaccessible for close to one-and-a-half hours soon after the map was uploaded on Thursday. Though the Chief Minister had promised to publish the map on Tuesday itself, it was finally uploaded at 6 am Thursday. However, the government website developed a technical glitch by 10:15 am. Though the buffer zone of all 22 wildlife sanctuaries were published, some disappeared in between.
How to read the map
In the map, the proposed ESZ suggested by the Wildlife Department are shown as Green lines inside red. Wildlife sanctuaries are shown as pink and panchayat borders with black line.
The colour-codes will enable people to check whether the human settlement areas have been included in buffer zones. Similarly, commercial buildings, educational institutions, office buildings, residential areas, places of worship, hospitals, and clinics, shops, hotels, tribal colonies, tourist destinations, banks, and roads are all marked.
The map has been prepared on the basis of a satellite survey by the State Government to claim relaxation for the apex court mandate.
Minister's promise
Forest Minister K K Saseendran said the Government, too, wants to exclude human habitations from the buffer zone. “Maximum efforts will be initiated for this. The decision to start a satellite survey was made in the light of a recent Supreme Court order. The new decision was made following criticisms that the survey method was unscientific. These findings are published with the intention of enabling the public to air their opinions and complaints. We don’t expect accolades like watching a movie,” the minister said.
A few complaints across various districts are listed below:
Thiruvananthapuram
• Neyyar dam tourist spot, police station, KTDC hotel, panchayat office, co-operative college, open jail, and a private lodge in Kallikkad panchayat are included in ESZs or buffer zones.
• Nearly half of the human habitation area outside the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in Mannoorkara village is shown as a buffer zone area.
• A major portion of Amboori town, Mahadeva temple, St George Forane Church, Family health center, three sub-centres, three Anganvadis, etc are included in ESZs.
Pathanamthitta
• Places like Pamba, Nilackkal, Attathodu, and Gavi are included in the buffer zone map. There are concerns that the restrictions in place at Sabarimala will be effected here too.
• There are hints that the areas opposite Pamba like Hilltop parking ground, various offices, KSRTC, Nilackkal, etc., may come under the proposed one-km ESZ.
Kottayam
• The Angelvalley and Pambavalley regions are shown as forest areas in the new map too. Nearly 1,200 families residing in Pambavalley (Ward 11) and Angelvalley (ward 12) have expressed concern over the classification.
Idukki
• The draft map has excluded Kumali town and the human habitations there. Other human habitations in the district are marked correctly.
Ernakulam
• There is a decrease in the total area of the ecologically sensitive Mangalavanam Bird sanctuary, located at the heart of Kochi city, on the new map. Similarly, a lesser area of Thattekad bird sanctuary is now shown as ESZ.
Palakkad
• The six tribal settlements and buildings around the Silent Valley National Park have been included in the map. Nearly a hundred families are residing here. The private resort and tribal treatment centres in Chindakki, a mineral water bottling plant, two schools, and a pre-matric hostel at Thanichuvadu are included in the buffer zone. The Silent Valley Wildlife warden has explained the inclusion of Mannarkkad municipality in the map is a technical lapse.
• The areas around Choolannur Pea Fowl sanctuary, including the Peringottukurissi-Tiruvilwamala road and the Naduvattupara-Taroor roads are included in the map. As per the census figures, there are nearly 300 families here. Similarly, a majority area of the Nelliyampathy panchayat is included in the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve buffer zone. Some houses and places in Kizhakkancherry, Kannambra regions located in the ESZ of the Peechi-Vazhani wildlife sanctuary too have been shown as buffer zone.
Kozhikode
• In Kozhikode district four panchayats — Chakkittapara, Koorachundu, Kattipara and Puthuppadi — located around the Malabar wildlife sanctuary, are marked as an Ecologically Sensitive Region. There are nearly 40 houses in Poozhithodu, Mavattom, Talippara areas coming under the jurisdiction of Chakkittapara panchayat. The three-kilometre area from Ottappalam to Kakkayam, passing through the side of the Peruvannamoozhi reservoir in the Koorachundu panchayat, too is a populated area.
Kannur
• There are apprehensions that certain human habitations in the Panniyammala region coming under the jurisdiction of the Kottiyoor wildlife sanctuary have been included in the buffer zone.
Panchayat to approach Supreme Court
The CPM-ruled Chakkittapara Panchayat in Kozhikode district is preparing its own buffer zone map to remove the ambiguity in the two maps published by the State Government so far demarcating buffer zones around the 22 wildlife sanctuaries.
The map will detail all necessary information such as buildings, institutions, farmlands, places of worship, etc. located within the one-kilometre jurisdiction of the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary. The panchayat administration will approach the Supreme Court with the map while seeking to add itself as a new party to the suit.
Earlier, the State Government had filed a review petition against the apex court order on June 3, which directed that every national park and wildlife sanctuary in the country should have a mandatory eco-sensitive zone of t least 1 km starting from its demarcated boundaries.
The legal expenses will be met through the funds collected from nearly the 5,000 families residing in the panchayat. A total of 5,184 houses across two villages of the panchayat are currently included under the buffer zone. “The aim is to inform the Court about the special scenario existing here,” panchayat president K Sunil said.
It was in June that the Supreme Court directed the setting up of buffer zones. The Kerala Government was slated to table a report before the apex court after the survey. Farmers, locals and other stakeholders have all alleged that the setting up of this 1 km buffer zone along protected forests will impact lakhs of families, besides religious and educational institutions. The Catholic Church has threatened an agitation to protect the interests of the people likely to be displaced by the creation of buffer zones.
