CPI(M) to launch agitation over ESA areas in Kannur

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] will launch a major public agitation against the Keralam government for the latter’s alleged failure to address the concerns of residents of hill regions over the notification of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) in Kannur district.

Protests will be held continuously after October 25, focussing on Kottiyoor, Cheruvanchery and Aralam regions, CPI(M) district secretary K.K. Ragesh said.

Mr. Ragesh alleged that the State government had remained indifferent to the concerns of people living in the hilly areas of the district, while the Centre continued to refuse to accept the revised report submitted by the State on ESA boundaries.

The ESA notification introduced by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2014 had caused extremely serious consequences for the hilly regions of the district. A ground-level survey was necessary to identify the actual ESA areas, he said.

However, instead of conducting such a survey, the Oommen V. Oommen Committee prepared what Mr. Ragesh described as a hastily compiled report in 2013. Based on this, the UDF government independently identified the State’s ecologically sensitive areas in 2014 and submitted a report to the Centre.

That report continues to form the basis of the seventh draft of the ESA report. The areas recommended by the committee remain designated as ecologically sensitive in the State and this, Mr. Ragesh said, was the fundamental reason for concerns among residents of hilly regions.

After the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power, it conducted a detailed study and concluded in 2018 that the ESA provisions should apply to only 92 villages. Objections to the proposed boundaries were examined at the district level, and the revised report was submitted to the Centre after excluding residential areas and including forest areas.

The Centre, however, refused to accept the revision. It questioned how the State could amend a report it had previously submitted.

Official’s transfer

The transfer of Vigilance Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) who had exposed corruption in the Kannur Corporation was suspicious, Mr. Ragesh said.

The officer had entered the Corporation office and seized several documents, Mr. Ragesh said, adding that he was transferred soon afterwards as a consequence of these actions.