Kerala to urge Centre to exclude inhabited areas from PTR buffer zone

The Kerala government will once again appeal to the Centre to exclude inhabited areas within the Pampa Valley and Angel Valley settlements from the buffer zone of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. 

This decision was made at a meeting of the State Wildlife Board chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. The State intends to seek the exclusion of 502.723 hectares from these two settlements as part of the additional information sought by the Centre concerning buffer zones. The National Wildlife Board is expected to consider the matter at its meeting on October 9. 

In addition, Kerala will reintroduce its proposal to exclude 8.9725 sq km of inhabited area from the Thattekkad bird sanctuary. To compensate, the State will propose adding 10.1694 sq km area of reserve forest in Munnar to the sanctuary. 

The meeting was attended by Minister of Forests AK Saseendran, legislators Sebastian Kulanthunkal and V. Sasi, Additional Chief Secretary K.R. Jyothilal, State Forest Chief Ganga Singh and Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod Krishnan.

Published - October 05, 2024 09:57 pm IST