By George Kommattam

Kozhikode, June 29, 2022: Thousands of farmers from the diocese of Thamarassery on June 29 organized a protest outside the office of the Kozhikode Collector demanding the repeal of the Eco-Sensitive Zone Proposal.

The proposal insists on a mandatory ecosensitive zone (ESZ) of minimum 1 km around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

Farmers have also organized protest rallies in Malappuram and Wayanad district headquarters a day earlier.

The protesters called for the intervention of the state government to save their land from unwanted encroachment in the name of ESZ rule. They also made it clear that attempts to take over agricultural land in the name of buffer zones would be resisted at any cost.

Bishop Varghese Chakkalakkal of Calicut, who inaugurated the meeting, has sought the intervention of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure peace of mind for residents of upland areas, who are worried over the ESZ proposal.

The move to have mandatory buffer zones should be dropped for people to feel safe. Those who rule the state have the moral responsibility to ensure that, the bishop demanded.

The prelate said the court order was like the “Damocles’ Sword” over people’s heads. Those who are living near the buffer zones are spending sleepless nights, he pointed out.

The bishop also said that if a 1-km buffer zone was made mandatory around wildlife sanctuaries, people would not be able to live there.

“It was in the 1920s that migration to upland areas in Malabar from other parts of Kerala began. The settler farmers have been living there for around a century. They are being evacuated to ensure space for animals. Human beings should be the priority, not animals,” Bishop Chakkalakkal asserted.

Chacko Kalamparambil, president of the Catholic Congress in Thamarassery diocese, said the settler farmers protect nature. Instead of protecting the farmers, the state government is trying to evacuate them from their land.

“This is not a Church-related issue. People from all communities are affected. If the law is enacted no farmer could cultivate anything to sell, they can’t dig well, they can’t build new homes. Their life will become terrible and finally, farmers from the buffer zone will have to either leave the land or be killed by wild animals,” Kalamparambil warned.