Several hundred residents of Amburi and Kallikkad gram panchayats took part in a mass protest in front of the forest headquarters here on Tuesday against the draft notification declaring eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, who inaugurated the protest, said if the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is implemented, many families who settled in the area decades ago would be thrown out. They demanded that human settlements and agricultural areas be kept out of the ESZ.
Heading the movement, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] District Secretary Anvoor Nagappan said that the state government would stand by the farming community under any circumstances. He said the government would take necessary steps to urge the Center to confine the proposed area to uninhabited areas.
BJP District President VV Rajesh urged the Forest Department to submit a detailed report to MoEFCC, highlighting the need to exclude inhabited areas from the area.
Amburi gram panchayat president Valsala Raju, Kallikkad gram panchayat president Pantha Sreekumar, district panchayat member Ansajita Resal and Amburi ESZ Action Council general secretary Jacob Chirumvellil addressed the protesters.