It will displace about a million people in the southern state of Kerala, says Cardinal George Alencherry
Indian Cardinal George Alencherry outside St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 18, 2012. (Photo: AFP)
The head of the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church has expressed concern over the likely eviction of some 150,000 families from wildlife sanctuaries and parks in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
India’s Supreme Court on June 3 declared all places within a kilometer around protected forest areas as eco-sensitive zones (ESZs). “No new permanent structure shall be permitted to come up for whatsoever purpose within the ESZ,” ruled a bench headed by Judge L. Nageswara Rao and comprising B.R. Gavai and Aniruddha Bose.
The order triggered panic among people living around the 24 declared sanctuaries and parks in Kerala, compelling Cardinal George Alencherry, who is based in the state, to describe it as “a really worrisome” development.
In a statement issued on June 9, he pointed out that the order, if implemented in its current form, will dislocate close to a million people in a tiny state like Kerala alone.
“Environment protection has always been the policy of the Church. But imposing the entire burden of environmental protection on those living in regions bordering the forest is unfair,” the statement said.
Cardinal Alencherry, who is also president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, said it had appealed to the communist-led provincial government to appraise the top court about the difficulties and repercussions of implementing its order.
“Our people have been living around these protected forests for ages. Where will they go now?”
Meanwhile, more than a million people living in the forested hills of Idukki called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown on July 10 in protest against the order. The district has eight wildlife sanctuaries and the order will likely displace hundreds of thousands of families.
Father Sebastian Kochupurackal, the general convener of the Idukki-based High Range Samrakshana Samithi movement, told UCA News on June 9 that the political leadership in both the federal and provincial governments had failed to present people’s concerns before the top court.
“The court cannot be blamed because it passed the order based on the facts and figures presented to it by the governments. Our people have been living around these protected forests for ages. Where will they go now?” the priest asked.
Kerala Independent Farmers Association chairman Alex Ozhukayil also opposed the top court order and said it should not be implemented in its current form. He appealed to the state government to either get the order reviewed or to denotify the sanctuaries and parks to avoid human displacement.
Kerala’s population density is close to 860 people per square kilometer, which is more than double the national average of 380 people per square kilometer. Thus, the state will be among the worst-hit if the order is implemented.
Some estimate that providing a one-kilometer eco-sensitive zone around the 24 sanctuaries and parks in Kerala will take away around 250,000 acres of land currently under human habitation.
The Kerala government had decided to file a review petition in the top court due to mounting public pressure.
However, wildlife conservation activists lauded the top court order, saying that eco-sensitive areas need to be protected as they are vulnerable to disturbances due to increasing human activities around them.
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