The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan promised that residents of the 115 densely populated areas on the sides of protected forests would not lose their land or means of basic survival due to the Forest Buffer Zone. The Supreme Court’s proposed one-kilometer buffer zone around ecologically sensitive localities.
He blamed big stake political interests for deceiving the public by wrongly accusing the government of ordering a satellite survey to differentiate the planned no human habitation zone which is a disadvantage for thousands of settler farmers in the state.
He said that the disputed survey was ordered by the Supreme Court, but it was overshadowed by the cunning attempt of the Congress-led United Democratic Front against the Left Democratic Front. According to the Chief Minister of Kerala Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, the public is legitimately concerned that the survey passed over hundreds of modest dwellings, vast tracts of arable land, and subsistence structures, mostly made of mud and huts.
He claimed that the government released the survey report so that the impacted families may bring awareness to any errors. Mr. Vijayan’s blamed the Congress Party for escalating the situation. According to him, Kerala and other states with similar views urged the Central government to drop the unrealistic requirement that any development within a 10-kilometer radius of the border of protected forests needs approval from the National Board for Wildlife.
