Idukki (Kerala): As the helicopter carrying Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan failed to land here yesterday because of bad weather, local people were up in arms, saying the state government was playing truant.
Kasturirangan was to meet local people here yesterday to ascertain the reasons for their opposition to the report of the Madhav Gadgil-headed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, released last year.
Incidentally, Idukki district, with an area of 4,479 square km, is the second-largest district of Kerala, with rugged mountains and forests covering about 97 percent of the total area. The district has a large number of people, including indigenous tribes, whose ecological conservation is the subject of the Gadgil panel report.
Local people fear that implementation of the Gadgil Committee report would be detrimental to their interests. Kasturirangan’s visit was scheduled as part of the process of hearing the grievances of local people. Local CPI legislator E S Bijimol said: “This is nothing but a short-cut to implement the Gadgil report. Who does not know that in the mornings, helicopters would have a visibility problem in Idukki district? If the state government was serious about hearing people, the Planning Commission member would have arrived by road. After all, we are all here.”
Bijimol had earlier buttonholed State Water Resources Minister P J Joseph, who also hails from this district.
Representatives of local people and officials yesterday held a meeting at which a crowd gathered, expressing resentment at being left out of policy planning for the area. When they were told that Kasturirangan had left for Wayanad, and would arrive by helicopter today to meet them, the meeting ended. A government official said the fears of the people were unfounded. IANS
