No change in policy towards Kasturirangan report: Minister

`Thiruvananthapuram: Forest Minister K. Raju told the Assembly on Thursday that the present and the previous government had the same approach on the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecologically sensitive areas on the Western Ghats.

The government stood by the unanimous resolution adopted by the House during the UDF rule that populated areas should not be included in the ecologically sensitive areas falling in 123 villages.

The Minister was responding to a notice for an adjournment motion, given by Sunny Joseph (Congress),  expressing concern over an affidavit filed by the government to the effect that 123 villages in the State were ecologically sensitive.

Mr. Raju said that the final notification by the Centre on the ecologically sensitive areas was pending. The matter was also under consideration of the National Green Tribunal. The government wanted to anti-farmer proposals in the reports to be dropped by the Centre.

He said that the statement of facts – not an affidavit, in question was filed by State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority on appeal against the High Court order allowing the petition of a quarry owner.

Mr. Sunny Joseph noted that the government had indeed filed an affidavit which said that the contention of the quarry owner that the location of the quarry, falling in one of the 123 villages, was not ecologically sensitive was not factually or legally sustainable. It had said that there was no indication that exclusion of populated areas from notification of ecologically sensitive areas was acceptable to the Centre.

Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the affidavit would weaken the State’s case when it comes to final notification of sensitive areas and the case before the Green Tribunal.

Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan did not allow the motion to be taken up in view of explanation by the government.

Later, responding to a calling attention from Raju Abraham (CPI-M), Law Minister A. K. Balan said that Gadgil report had identified 13108 square km spread across 123 villages as ecologically sensitive area. This was subsequently reduced to 9993.7 sq km in the draft notification on the basis of representation made by the State government and report submitted by Kerala Biodiversity Board.

Mr. Abraham urged the government to press the Centre to exclude human inhabited regions in the State from area to be notified as ecologically sensitive.