The PMO has taken into account Kerala's "genuine" apprehensions on implementation of recommendations of a controversial report on Western Ghats and directed the Environment Ministry to conduct a "proper study" before taking a final decision on the matter.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was in Delhi today to discuss the Western Ghats issue with Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily, said the PMO's direction to the Environment Ministry came after it studied a report on Western Ghats prepared by the Kasturirangan panel, set up by the state government.
Chandy, however, could not meet Moily as he was out of Delhi.
"Prime Minister's office gave a direction to the Environment Ministry yesterday. The PMO has said Kerala's apprehension on the implementation of the recommendations of the Kasturirangan panel report are genuine and the Ministry should take a final decision on the issue only after studying it properly," Chandy told reporters here.
Yesterday, the Kerala assembly had unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to implement the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats conservation only after considering the views of the state.
Meanwhile, a CPI (M)-affiliated farmers' body staged a strong protest here against the Environment Ministry's decision to accept in principle and operationalise the "anti-farmer" recommendations in the Kasturirangan report.
The All India Kisan Sabha said the people in Western Ghats region are "anxious" over the decision of Environment Ministry.
Kerala is agitated as the report identifies 123 villages as Ecologically Sensitive Areas and farmers in these villages fear that 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 after the Madhav Gadgil Committee and Kasturirangan reports on Western Ghats preservation came out.
