Church leaders in Keralam call for urgent steps to address concerns over ESA draft for Western Ghats villages

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The State government should take urgent steps to address the growing concerns among high-range farmers over the draft notification on the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) in the Western Ghats, said Thrissur Archdiocese Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath and Archdiocesan Pastoral Council secretary Joshi Vadakkan.

The Centre and the State should hold discussions to rectify provisions in the draft notification that could undermine the constitutional rights of high-range farmers and tribal communities to live and pursue their livelihoods without fear, they said.

The State government should convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly to discuss the concerns of more than 35 lakh people living in 131 villages covered by the proposal, they said.

“The ESA should be confined to forestland under government control, and villages in Keralam should not be treated as the basic units for demarcating the ESA. The government should also ensure that people retain their rights to buy and sell land and use their property as collateral for bank transactions,” they added.

The Assembly should unanimously endorse these demands and convey them to the Centre, the church leaders said.

There can be no dispute over the need to protect the ecology of the Western Ghats. At the same time, the lives and livelihoods of people who have been living and farming in the hill regions for decades with valid records should also be protected. The issue can be resolved only by placing people at the centre of sustainable development, they said in a joint statement.

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