The High Range Mountain Landscape Project taken up by the State government in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been put on hold following sustained protest by people’s representatives over the method of implementation.
The decision to shelve the project was taken at a meeting held in the presence of Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan here on Tuesday. Idukki MP, Joyce George, MLAs, Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson, and senior officials were present. Alleging that the project lacked transparency, the MP and MLAs said elected representatives had not been taken into confidence on the implementation of the project. They urged the government to stop all the activities including the baseline survey that had been initiated.
Meeting
Conceding the demand, the Minister said the project would be put on hold. A meeting of stakeholders would be held on March 27 to decide the fate of the project. The details of implementation, the role of the participating agencies, and the benefits to the State would be discussed at the meeting.
As many as 34 panchayats in the Western Ghats had been identified for the High Range Mountain Landscape project designed to minimise the impact of commercial and livelihood activities on fragile ecosystems.
The State government had entered into a tripartite agreement with the Centre and UNDP for the project and the Forest Department had been chosen as the nodal agency.
A preliminary assessment carried out by the participating agencies revealed rapid erosion of biodiversity, degradation and fragmentation of key habitats, proliferation of invasive alien species, increasing human- animal conflicts, and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources as major challenges in the project region covering over 3,000 sq km in Idukki, Ernakulam, and Thrissur districts.
Stiff protest
Right from the beginning, elected representatives including MPs, MLAs and members of the three-tier local bodies had put up a stiff protest alleging that they had been kept in the dark about the project.
“We are not against biodiversity conservation or sustainable management of resources but the project clearly lacked transparency, leading to several apprehensions about the intent and its potential impact on the people,” says Mr. George.
