Kerala to submit final views on Kasturirangan report tomorrow

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government will submit its final views on the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats tomorrow, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here today.

The Centre's final notification on the report would be issued on September 9 and there is no room for any anxiety for farmers and local residents in the high-range areas in this regard, Chandy told the state Assembly.

"Forest land, agriculture areas, plantations and inhabited lands have been demarcated separately and cardamom hill reserve has been identified as revenue land. Forest land and the land protected by forest department will be preserved as Ecologically Fragile Land (EFL)," he said.

The report was prepared after a study on 119 villages that were affected by the Kasturirangan report.

"With the issuing of the final notification, the anxieties of farmers and local residents in this regard will be over," Chandy said during the question hour session.

The state government had directed district collectors on July 21 to submit a comprehensive report that identifies ecologically fragile lands in the 119 villages to prepare the state's view on the Kastururangan report on Western Ghats.