: The Union government’s ‘go slow’ attitude on taking decisions on the final notification for implementing the Kasturirangan report on the conservation of Western Ghats and amendment of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms has put the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) under pressure.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had included these two issues as priority items in his memoranda submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and during the latter’s whistle stop visit to the State. It appears that the BJP government is no mood to oblige the Congress which is trying to find its feet in the High Range constituencies, particularly Idukki and Kannur after the debilitating defeats in these areas in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Till date, the Congress leadership has never been able to really understand the reasons for the UPA government’s action issuing the draft notification. In its bid to rectify the situation, the Chandy government appointed an expert committee, headed by Oommen V. Oommen, chairman of the Biodiversity Board, to look into the Kasturirangan impact. The committee recommended declassifying 2,500 sq.km. area in the 123 villages notified as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) that had human settlement or were plantations or agriculture land. All the records and documentation related to this were submitted to the Centre.
With some of the Western Ghats States now being ruled by the BJP, the party appears to be leveraging its position in Kerala to make political gains.
The BJP has also been subtly encouraging the Kerala Congress (M). Its leader K.M. Mani was given the chairmanship of the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers on GST, outdoing the UPA government which did not consider his claims. He had to quit this post after his resignation as Finance Minister. The Modi government has also shown its tilt towards the Kerala Congress (M) in its “rubber politics,” with the Prime Minister favouring the line toed by Mr. Mani during his programmes in the State recently. On top of this, the new BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan has been meeting church leaders since assuming office.
In the case of the CRZ norms, which are being implemented since 2011, the fishermen community is the most severely affected because of stiff stipulations that have prevented even construction of dwellings.
