Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 24 Keralam Revenue Minister A P Anilkumar on Thursday said there was no need to be concerned about the Western Ghats ESA draft notification as residential areas will be excluded from it.
Anilkumar also said that the state government has taken a strong stand on the issue.
“There is no need for any concerns. The government has taken a strong stand on the issue. The ESA (Ecologically Sensitive Area) related activities will be undertaken in Keralam by excluding residential areas from it. We will continue with the same stand that we had at the time when (the late) Oommen Chandy was the Chief Minister,” he told reporters.
The minister said that if any villages were included during the mapping process, the residential areas there have been excluded.
Anilkumar said that if the map requires to be reexamined, it will be done.
He further said that central officials had come to Keralam in connection with the notification and the CM, VD Satheesan and ministers had told them about the situation in the state.
“They said that our state cooperated the most. So, there will be no problems. There is no basis for the concerns. The government will do whatever is required to be done,” he said.
On Wednesday, Satheesan had said that the state government has decided to submit a proposal to the Centre completely excluding inhabited areas and CHR (Cardamom Hill Reserve) regions from the ESA draft notification.
The Environment Department would prepare a comprehensive map for this purpose, he had said.
Prior to that, Agriculture minister T Siddique had on September 20 said the state government was taking steps to exclude residential and agricultural areas in Keralam from the Centre’s draft ESA notification related to the Western Ghats.
(PTI News)
