Palakkad Bishop to lead farmers against ESA, ESZ
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‘State government should use its discretionary powers to save thousands of farmers’
Farmers underneath the management of Palakkad Bishop Mar Jacob Manathodath will go on a warpath searching for drastic corrections within the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) and Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) notifications for the Western Ghats.
“The State government should use its discretionary powers to save thousands of farmers from depravation before the ESA and ESZ final notifications come into force,” mentioned Bishop Manathodath right here on Wednesday.
Sections of farmers from throughout the district have united underneath the Palakkad Diocese to press the federal government on the ESA-ESZ guidelines. The Supreme Court has given the Central authorities time until December 31 to carry out the ultimate notification on the ecosensitive areas and zones round forests and wildlife sanctuaries.
The Bishop mentioned that farmers within the district weren’t conscious of the hazards they’d have to face if the principles within the present kind come into pressure. “The Forest Department says no farmer will be evicted from their land. But the new regulations will force the farmers to abandon their lands,” mentioned Bishop Manathodath.
The Diocese and the Kerala Independent Farmers Association (KIFA) will manage consciousness periods at 120 places throughout Palakkad in two days. “We will be doing it by maintaining COVID-19 protocol. If the government does not heed the genuine demands of the farmers, we will have to launch an agitation,” mentioned the Bishop, calling upon the individuals to give their votes to those that assist the farmers.
A renewed listing of ESA villages submitted final 12 months by the State authorities had eliminated 31 villages from the unique 123 ESA villages talked about by Prof. Oommen V. Oommen Commission report in 2014. At the identical time, the National Green Tribune has proscribed Kerala from lowering the dimensions of the ESA villages initially submitted. “If the government finds the space lost for 31 removed villages in the remaining 92 villages, the situation will further worsen for the people of 13 ESA villages in Palakkad district,” mentioned K.T. Thomas, chairman of Kanhirapuzha Planters Association.
KIFA leaders V.K. Aboobacker and V. Devaraj mentioned that human habitats and farmlands needs to be exempted from ESA villages. They mentioned the ESZ needs to be restricted to forest boundaries. “If ESZ is extended to one kilometer as suggested by the government, it will affect the people living in the fringe areas badly,” they mentioned.
According to Mr. Thomas, using geo coordinates to demarcate the ESZ and ESA boundaries will likely be impractical as it would deprive farmers a lot of their farmland. “Replacing the current system of demarcating stone boundaries with geo coordinates is not practical at all,” he mentioned.
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