Church urges Kerala clarity on Western Ghats protection plan 

KAKKANAD, Kerala (Indian Catholic News) — The head of the Syro Malabar Church has urged the Kerala state government to clarify federally proposed environmentally sensitive area restrictions before the Sept. 25 deadline for objections expires.

Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil of Ernakulam-Angamaly called for precise data and maps to be submitted to the Indian federal government while taking local communities and public representatives into confidence, according to a Sept. 22 statement issued by the Syro Malabar Church. 

India’s Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests on July 27 reissued its draft Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) notification delineating zones across the Western Ghats. The public has until Sept. 25 to file objections before the government decides whether to issue a final notification.

The Western Ghats extend about 1,500 kilometres crossing five states including Kerala. The range is one of the world’s eight biodiversity hotspots, home to more than 7,000 plant and animal species. It is also extremely landslide prone, requiring “special measures of protection and mitigation,” according to the federal government. 

The July 27 notification proposes 9,993.7 square kilometres across 131 villages in Kerala as Ecologically Sensitive Areas.  

Archbishop Thattil, whose Syro Malabar Church is based in Kerala, said the lack of precise information has left residents concerned that populated areas and agricultural land could be brought under the proposed ESA. 

Disputed boundaries and missing maps 

The Major Archbishop said village-level geocoordinate maps needed for residents to determine which areas fall within the proposed ESA “have not been made available.” 

He also said a court order requiring the draft notification to be made available to the public in Malayalam had not been implemented. 

Archbishop Thattil urged the state government to submit the federal government a report containing “maps and exact measurements” that exclude populated settlements, agricultural lands, plantations, other establishments and townships from the ESA. 

He called for the proposed ESA to be limited to forest areas and protected zones under the direct control of the Forest Department. 

The process, he said, should involve “local self-government institutions, public representatives, farmers’ organisations, and the general public.” 

The ESA issue has been under consideration for more than 12 years, with the federal government issuing seven draft notifications since March 10, 2014. Archbishop Thattil said successive state governments had failed to correct what he described as a fundamental error in the Oommen Committee report.

That report recommended scaling down the proposed ESA in the Western Ghats to protect human settlements, farmlands, and plantations from strict federal restrictions.

Questions over forest figures 

The dispute centres partly on how land in the 131 villages has been classified. 

The villages cover a total of 12,900 square kilometres, while the Oommen Committee report put revenue land — including inhabited areas, agricultural holdings and plantations — at less than 3,000 square kilometres. 

Archbishop Thattil said the discrepancy resulted because the committee “erroneously designated revenue land within these villages as forest land in its submission.” 

“The government must take immediate measures to rectify this error,” he said. 

He called for the Oommen Committee report to be withdrawn and replaced with a fresh report prepared in consultation with local self-government bodies and civil society organisations. 

The Major Archbishop also questioned the figures in the state government’s pending report. The Kerala chief minister, who came into office past May, has said the proposed ESA would cover 8,590 square kilometres across 98 villages. 

Archbishop Thattil said this appeared to be a reissued report prepared under the previous government. According to Forest Department records cited by him, less than 7,000 square kilometres of forest and protected areas across those villages could legitimately fall within the ESA. 

The Oommen Committee report’s estimate of 9,107 square kilometres of forest across the 131 villages, he said, was “a fundamental error.” 

Impact on residents and landowners 

Archbishop Thattil warned that using the disputed figures could bring land occupied and cultivated by residents within the scope of forest laws. 

If the government’s proposed 8,590-square-kilometer ESA is retained, he said, more than 1,600 square kilometres beyond the actual forest area would have to be identified as forest land from populated areas and agricultural fields. 

“This creates a situation where forest laws could become applicable to the land of ordinary citizens,” he said. 

The prolonged uncertainty has also caused distress among people holding valid title deeds, Archbishop Thattil said, affecting “land transactions, banking transactions, and related matters.” 

He acknowledged the need to protect the ecology of the Western Ghats but said environmental protection should not come at the expense of people living in the region. 

“The lives, dwellings, and livelihoods of the people who have inhabited and farmed the hill regions for decades with valid land titles must simultaneously be safeguarded,” he said. 

“Environmental protection and human survival should not be treated as mutually exclusive,” Archbishop Thattil said. “Rather, a solution must be identified that places human beings at the centre of sustainable development.” 

Full statement available: original Malayalam and AI‑generated English translation.