Palakkad: A joint Kisan Morcha hartal was announced in the affected areas on November 6, demanding that the defects in the Seventh Draft Notification of the Western Ghats Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) be rectified. The hartal has been called from 6 am to 6 pm.

The main allegation of the organization is that Kerala has not considered the concerns raised earlier in the seventh draft notification released on July 27. The organization demanded that a scientific study should be conducted to protect only forest areas by completely avoiding residential areas and farmlands.1000204548.jpg

Affected Villages and Concerns

According to the new notification, 13 villages of Palakkad district are included in the environmentally sensitive zone. It includes Attapadi and Nelliampathi completely. The villages in the list are Agali, Kallamala, Kottathara, Patavayal, Puthur, Sholayur, Mudalamada 1, Nelliampathi, Palakkayam, Malampuzha 1, Pudusherry East, Pudupariaram and Kishkancherry 1. Farmers are concerned that the implementation of the final notification will result in restrictions that will seriously affect agriculture, small scale enterprises, construction activities and the livelihood of the common people.

The organization also pointed out that the survey numbers involved in each village are not clear in the map in the notification. Direct inspection of affected areas should be done to maintain forest area as forest and inhabited areas as inhabited areas. The leaders also demanded that the state government put strong pressure on the center in this regard.

The central government is adopting the approach of sacrificing people's lives in the name of forest protection. Samyukta Kisan Morcha stated that they are embarking on a strong agitation including hartal to demand complete resolution of people's concerns and protection of agriculture and livelihood. In the press conference, the State Vice President of Kerala Farmers Association C.K. Rajendran, Kisan Sabha District President K. Ramachandran, Chairman MR. Murali, Convenor Manikanthan Potassery, Sahadevan and others participated.