Greens have demanded complete overhaul of the Wayanad package
Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi (WPSS) said in a letter to the chief minister and the state planning board
Greens have demanded complete overhaul of the Wayanad package announced by the state government saying that the government should drop those projects which would not contribute to the sustainable development of the hill district.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced a Rs 7000-cr development package for Wayanad to be implemented over the next five years.
Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi (WPSS) said in a letter to the chief minister and the state planning board that the package announced for the eco-restoration and revival of the agriculture sector and economy of the district is being scuttled by earmarking huge sums for projects like tunnel road and for tourism and road projects.
They said that many of the draft projects which are part of the package would exacerbate the ongoing environmental destruction of the district’s fragile landscape. They demanded that half of the outlay of the package should be earmarked for the ecological restoration of the district and for the revival of agriculture and protection of water and land resources.
“Also people’s representatives, experts and public workers are being sidelined in drawing up the projects of the package which is being scuttled by officials and retired bureaucrats,” WPSS president N Badusha said adding that the draft projects would only lead to destruction of the district.
He said that many of the projects currently included in the package were not in sync with the call given by United Nations to draw up sustainable development goals in the next decade focusing on ecological restoration and to address the challenges posed by climate change.
WPSS office-bearers said that of the tribal communities who make up for around 20% of the total population of the district, 3,000 families are landless. “While there are around two lakh acres of land which has been illegally kept under possession by large firms, there is no mention in the package about landless and homeless people in the district. Those who have prepared the projects seem to have been guided by the notion that distribution of livestock and poultry holds the key to tribal development,” they said.
It is unfortunate that Rs 1,000 crore is earmarked for uncontrolled tourism development in the district, which is damaging the ecology of the district and also adversely affecting peaceful life of tribespeople, WPSS said. They added that while Wayanad which has been a top hotspot of human wildlife conflict in the country, only Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for conflict mitigation and added that at least Rs 1,000 crore should be allotted for the purpose.