Settlements out of ambit of sanctuaries

Thiruvananthapuram: A meeting of the state wildlife board chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday decided to initiate steps to exclude human inhabited areas of Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, Pampa Valley and Angel Valley from the ambit of wildlife sanctuaries.
The meeting decided to initiate the necessary steps to exclude the human inhabited areas in Pampa Valley and Angel Valley from the ambit of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. These two wards of the Erumely grama panchayat were marked as forests in the recent satellite survey conducted by the government to determine the human inhabitations in the run up to finalising the buffer zone.
Similarly, human inhabited areas in Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary will be excluded from the ambit of the bird sanctuary.
While Periyar Tiger Reserve was formed in 1978, Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary was formed in 1983.