Environmental organisations in Wayanad district have urged the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) to stop all construction activities for the ‘En Uru’, a tribal tourism project in an ecologically sensitive area of reserved forest in the Pookode valley under the South Wayanad Forest Division.
In a letter to the authorities, Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti (WPSS) and Green Cross alleged that the project was being implemented on a piece of land allotted for the establishment of a Tribal Collective Farm (Pookode Dairy Project) in 1978.
The project was approved by the MOEF&CC for the resettlement of landless tribal people who were freed from bonded labour. However, it was abandoned later, said N. Badusha, president, WPSS. The land that enjoys the status of reserved forest was handed over to the State government specifically for the resettlement and uplift of tribal people, he added.
Any construction activities on lands categorised as reserved forest needs the prior approval of the Central government, as per the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, Mr. Badusha said.
However, construction work is going on unabated in the area. Besides, mining activities are also taken up. As the land was handed over only for the resettlement of tribal people, other activities such as tourism and construction are unlawful, he said.
The forest land is part of the grassland-shola forest ecosystem situated at an altitude of around 1,100 metres above the sea level. The area was identified as Ecologically Sensitive Zone-1 in the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports, Abu Pookode, chairman, Green Cross, said. It also falls under the eco-sensitive zone of the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Various locations in the region had experienced landslips in the past, he added.