W'Ghats issue: LDF hartal in upland districts tomorrow

CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala has called a day-long hartal in upland Idukki and Wayanad districts tomorrow protesting the Centre's reluctance on exempting settlers from the ambit of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA).
According to LDF sources, the protest was to press for withdrawal of the notification issued in November last by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry regarding the Kasturirangan panel report on Western Ghats conservation, which bracketed 120 villages under ESA category.
Though Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has exuded confidence that the Centre would consider the state's demand, Union Minister Veerappa Moily on Thursday refused to set a timeline for addressing the state's concern.

Moily had yesterday held a meeting of officials from the states concerned to discuss the problems arising from the implementation of the panel recommendations.
The LDF leaders held that the Centre's "vague" response to the state's demand signalled that an early decision on the issue that agitate thousands of families was not in sight.
With the Lok Sabha polls fast approaching,the issue has become a hotly debated one in the state.
Not only the opposition LDF but even the Congress and its UDF partners are making a hue and cry over an urgent decision to remove the apprehensions of small and marginal farmers, who have been up in arms against its implementation.

The Catholic Church has also lent support to the resistance campaign since a large chunk of the settler farmers in the hilly areas like Idukki and Wayanad belong to the community.