Overview
- The Kerala Grama Panchayat Association district committee passed a resolution on September 3 calling for a full review of the Centre’s draft notification that proposes Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghats and asking that local bodies’ concerns be formally submitted to the Centre.
- Sancordem gram sabha in Ponda, Goa, compiled 47 formal objections and demands and said its leaders will seek the state chief minister’s intervention over risks to housing, farming and livelihoods.
- Local bodies insist on cadastral/GIS maps that identify survey numbers and land parcels, plus on-the-ground field verification to fix boundaries plot by plot rather than village-wide, and they want clear rules for existing homes, repairs and new construction.
- Panchayats flagged methodology problems after successive drafts showed changing village counts and area figures, and they want the High-Level Working Group’s geospatial criteria and any changes to recorded forest area checked by the Forest, revenue and other departments.
- If the draft is finalised without the requested mapping and safeguards, panchayats warn it could restrict basic services, agriculture, small businesses and low-impact tourism; they will press state and central authorities for revisions and transparent scientific justification.