The Keralam government’s move to seek the exclusion of inhabited areas and farmland from the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) regime has failed to soothe tempers in Pathanamthitta amid concerns that the revised proposal offers no complete exclusion for any of the seven villages covered by the Centre’s draft notification.
The State’s list, released by Environment Minister Sunny Joseph last week, proposes excluding 33 villages across seven districts from the ESA regime. None of the seven villages in Pathanamthitta covered by the Centre’s draft notification, however, has been proposed for complete exclusion, leaving the forest-fringe areas facing continued uncertainty.
The Centre’s draft notification covers Chittar, Seethathode, Aruvappulam and Thannithode in Konni taluk, and Vadasserikkara, Perunad and Kollamula in Ranni taluk. With all seven categorised as red zones, residents mounted a strong response, filing thousands of objections, both collectively and individually, seeking their exclusion.
Farmer organisations have argued that large parts of the areas proposed for inclusion are inhabited and that several locations already host projects such as hydroelectric schemes. Most of the residents are settler farmers who migrated to the region decades ago, they say.
Concerns persist
But with the deadline for submitting objections ending on September 25 and the State government’s revised proposal already submitted to the Centre, concerns persist over whether the seven villages will get complete relief from the ESA regime.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], which has been at the forefront of protests against the ESA proposal in the district, has stepped up its agitation, accusing the Congress-led State government of ignoring the concerns of settler farmers. The party has also warned of strong protests against what it described as the discriminatory treatment of Pathanamthitta.
“Farmers are now worried that they may have to stop farming if the draft notification is finalised,” said Raju Abraham, CPI(M) district secretary.
‘Grave betrayal’
The CPI(M) will observe a black day on September 28 to protest what it has described as the “grave betrayal” by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The party has also warned of massive protests if the State government does not initiate steps to seek the exclusion of settlements on the forest fringes of the district from the ESA list.
Amid the mounting concerns, Ranni legislator and senior Congress leader Pazhakulam Madhu has sought to reassure the villagers, saying Mr. Joseph had informed him that the State government had already submitted a proposal seeking the complete exclusion of inhabited areas and agricultural land from the ESA regime.
“According to the report submitted by the State government, inhabited areas and agricultural land in the Ranni and Konni constituencies covered by the Centre’s draft ESA notification have been excluded. Only areas that need to be retained as ecologically sensitive have been included in the State’s proposal,” he said.
For instance, Perunad, Kollamula and Vadasserikkara currently have 192.68 sq km, 59.94 sq km and 57.23 sq km respectively under the draft ESA notification. Under the State government’s proposal, these would be reduced to 142.96 sq km, 27.55 sq km and 24.08 sq km respectively, Mr. Madhu explained.
Overall, the area proposed to be retained under the ESA regime in Pathanamthitta would come down from 1,543.01 sq km to 1,308.25 sq km.
Published – September 27, 2026 07:19 pm IST
