Ecologist Madhav Gadgil backs protests against SC ruling on sensitive zones

Order calling for creation of one-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around all forest land, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks termed 'unjust and impractical'

Amid widespread protests in Kerala against a Supreme Court order directing all states to create a one-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around all forest land, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, ecologists like Madhav Gadgil are now out in support of the agitators, calling the move as ‘unjust and impractical’.

According to protestors, a total of at least 400,000 acres of human settlement and farming area in Kerala will be hit by the move, affecting the lives of lakhs of people in Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad. The protests gained national attention when SFI activists attacked Wayanad’s Lok Sabha representative Rahul Gandhi’s