Kerala to move Centre on eco sensitive zones: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

KOCHI: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the state government will approach the Centre to exclude human habitations from the one-km eco sensitive zone ordered by the Supreme Court around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

At the launch of the

Vriksha Samridhi

project in

Kannur

on Sunday, he said Kerala had a unique situation of high population density across all areas. The government has already taken a stand that human habitations should not be included in SEZ and the Centre was examining the matter.

The apex court order has caused concerns among a large number of people living in forest boundaries and the government will also examine legal steps to be taken, he said.

Earlier, forest minister AK Saseendran also told reporters that the state government would explore legal options to protect the interests of people.