The Kerala assembly today unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to implement the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats preservation only after considering the views of the state.
Cutting across party lines, members who spoke on the debate on the issue voiced concern over the recommendations and said the state's interest should be taken into consideration before implementing it.
The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy under Rule 275, wanted to exempt from Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) list, land under cultivation and habitation areas.
Speaking on the motion, Chandy said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the Environment Ministry to consider the views of Kerala before finalising the report.
"Prime Minister has assured that the state's interest will be taken into account," he said, adding he would take up the issue with the Union Environment Minister during his visit to Delhi tomorrow.
"State government is committed to protecting the interests of farmers in the region," he said.
Seeking notice for the motion, CPI(M) Deputy leader in the house Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the recommendations have caused fear and apprehensions among settler farmers in high range areas. They were under fear of eviction, he added.
He demanded that the state intervene to assuage the apprehensions of the people.
The issue had rocked the assembly yesterday after CPI-M led LDF Opposition disrupted proceedings, seeking a debate on the Kasturirangan committee report.
The latest provocation was the Centre's assertion before the National Green Tribunal recently that the ESA list and other conditions issued by the Environment Ministry stands.
They alleged it was contrary to the assurance given by the Centre that the report's suggestions would be implemented only after considering the state's views.
Kerala is agitated as the report identifies 123 villages as ESA and settler farmers in these villages fear no development will take place and an 'undeclared eviction' threat looms over them.
People in these areas under the banner of High range Protection Committee are at loggerheads with the government over the issue since the Madhav Gadgil Committee and Kasuthurirangan reports on Western Ghats preservation came out.
