ESA draft report: LSGD joint director asks panchayats to submit report

Kozhikode/Perambra: A panchayat-level inspection should be conducted and a report should be submitted based on this within one week in connection with the draft report prepared to determine the Environmental Assessment Area (ESA) of the Western Ghats. The decision was taken in a meeting convened by the panchayat Joint Director .  

The 260.11 square kilometre area comes under nine villages of the district has been included in the newly prepared Draft Report (ESA).

If there are any alterations, a revised draft report with necessary corrections should be submitted by the grama panchayat that falls within the ESA limits within seven days. While making changes, it should be noted whether human-inhabited areas are being included. 

 Presidents and secretaries of Kavilumpara, Kodanchery Puthupadi, Thiruvambadi Grama Panchayats, etc. had attended the meeting. Some panchayat presidents said that they need at least ten days to prepare the report. 

Dr. Jude Emmanuel and Dr. Shiju Chacko, the scientists of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, presented the draft report. 3D views of the area prepared with the technical help of Google Earth were presented in the meeting. The Department of Local Self-Government Joint Director, T.J. Arun, presided over the meeting. 

All the important documents and files required for the inspection, such as sketches of villages, KML files, geocoordinates, etc., were submitted. The survey will be conducted with the assistance of revenue and forest officials and technical experts.

In May 2022, the report submitted to the central government in 2018 on the demarcation of 92 villages was found to be inaccurate. Subsequently, the district-level scrutiny committee was formed to inspect and ward off the residential area, agricultural land, and plantation land.

Two months ago, the meteorological department had instructed the local self-government to give their opinions to be considered in the draft report within one month. The government report related to ESA was to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) by January 30. However, the Environment Department had requested the Ministry extend the deadline due to incompletion. 

The 13.62-square-kilometre area is newly included in the draft report. In nine villages, a total of 260.11 square kilometres is included. According to the previous report from 2018, 246.49 square kilometres were included in nine villages.