With only two weeks left in the 60‑day window for filing objections, settler families in the high ranges of Kottayam are preparing for a new confrontation over the Centre’s seventh draft notification on Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghats. The draft, issued on 27 July, places the four villages of Koottikkal, Melukavu, Poonjar Thekkekkara and Teekoy—located in the Poonjar Assembly constituency—on the proposed ESA map.
The proposal is estimated to affect around 70,000 people and has prompted residents, local bodies and various organisations, including the Catholic church, to intensify their campaign against the move. Agriculture is the backbone of these high‑range villages, with rubber, cardamom, coffee, pepper, coconut and banana among the major crops. Residents fear that including their land in the ESA could impose restrictions on plantations and hinder essential development activities.
In Koottikkal, opposition has already moved beyond petitions. The local body convened special grama sabhas in all 14 wards, held an urgent council meeting and passed a resolution detailing its objections. The resolution will be forwarded to the State and Union governments by registered post. Ancy Sebastian, president of Koottikkal panchayat, said the 30,000 residents unanimously seek exclusion from ESA limits and warned that the protest could spill onto the streets if the demand is ignored. She argued that the panchayat has no forest land; satellite surveys may have mistaken plantations for forest cover, but these are human‑inhabited areas and should be excluded.
Political leaders have also stepped in. Kerala Congress leader and Government Chief Whip Apu John Joseph said all possible steps would be taken to secure exclusion of the villages and that the Chief Minister would visit Idukki on 25 September to discuss the issue. Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony, whose constituency includes Poonjar, reiterated the United Democratic Front’s stance that non‑forest land should not be brought under ESA. The State has already sought to reduce the proposed ESA area from 9,993.7 km² to 8,590.69 km², keeping inhabited areas, agricultural land and plantations out of its ambit, and has cut the number of ESA villages from 131 to 98.
