Greens petition against Munnar Ordinance

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Madhavan Pillai Foundation, in a petition, has requested Governor R S Gavai not to accord sanction to the Ordinance for taking over 1,036 acres of land in Munnar for setting up a tourism township.

The foundation further urged the government to consult experts from various fields before finalising any development plan for the area.

The Ordinance on Munnar, which had raised the concern of scientists and intellectuals, is being passed with undue haste, the foundation said. "This is a subject that needs extensive discussion and debate both in the Kerala Assembly as well as among the public," the petition said.

Munnar is the most important Montane Shola (Grasslands habitat of the Western Ghats), which is one of the few biodiversity hotspots of the world. It is the home to the only viable population of the highlyendangered mountain goat, The Nilgiri Tahr, the world population of which is less than 2,000.

The Munnar hills are surrounded by one Tiger Reserve, four National Parks and two Wildlife Sanctuaries. But the move by the Kerala Government to take over 1,036 acres of land around Munnar through an Ordinance for setting up a tourism township has raised concerns, the petition said.

"Setting up a township in such a large area in an ecologically highlysensitive hill station will certainly lead to its degradation and death. No environment impact studies on how the township will affect the resources and biodiversity of the area has been done," it said.

The foundation further questioned the Development Master Plan for Munnar, that is being formulated by the Department of Tourism alone, when it should have been a joint venture of various agencies like the Forest Department, research institutes like the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute and Kerala Forest Research Institute, Tourism Department, and various NGOs who have done extensive study and research in the area.

It is also mysterious as to why the entire development plan was kept in the dark from the public and even at this time of the Ordinance, it is not available for review, the petition said.