Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM state secretariat has opposed the Gadgil Committee report on Western Ghats, saying normal life would be impossible in Idukki and Wayanad districts if some of its recommendations are implemented.
While agreeing that the WGEEP report has raised serious environmental concerns, the CPM said most of the recommendations were impractical and had the capacity to trigger serious problems in a densely populated state like Kerala.
“If implemented, normal life will be made impossible in Idukki and Wayanad districts,” the secretariat said in a statement here on Sunday. “It will be nearly impossible to engage in agriculture and will stand in the way of even minor construction activities,” the statement said.
It said zonation has been carried out in an unscientific manner. “If 50 per cent of a taluk comes under ESZ1, the entire taluk is brought under ESZ1. Irinjalakkuda, for instance, is demarcated as ESZ1. If the report comes into force, towns like Chalakkudy and Irinjalakkuda will come under strict regulations which will bar any future development in these areas,” the statement said.
According to the statement, even Idukki dam will have to be dismantled if the recommendation that 30-50 year-old dams should be de-commissioned was implemented. “This will lead to a serious power crisis,” the statement said.
The recommendation that perennial crops should not be grown on slopes would land rubber cultivation in deep trouble. “It will also lead to a situation where estates will have to close down and workers made jobless,” it said.