Wayanad (Kerala) Feb 8 (PTI): A dawn-to-dusk hartal, to protest against the draft notification of the Centre categorising a specified area around Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary as an ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ), was near total here on Monday.

The hartal was called for by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) which is in the opposition in the state of Kerala.

Normal life in the district was hit with almost all shops shut and no public transport in and around major towns like Kalapetta, Bathery and Mananthavady. The Vasari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy, an organisation of businessmen in te state, had declared support to the hartal. According to the draft notification issued by the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment on January 28, an extent of zero to 3.4 kms around the sanctuary would fall under the eco-sensitive zone. Many villages border the sanctuary and hence many human settlements in the fringe areas would fall within the zone, the UDF said. The sanctuary, spread over nearly 344 sq km, is rich in biodiversity and is a habitat of elephants and tigers. The Diocese of Sultan Bathery too extended its solidarity to the protest. Many Christians, belonging to the second and third generation of migrated settler-farmers, live and have plantations on the fringe of the forests in several parts of the district bordering the Deccan plateau. The notification would be in force for 60 days to enable people and organisations to file complaints or suggestions. Once the ESZ is made official, norms would be in place in land utilisation, construction and business activities within the specified areas falling under the zone. On Sunday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the latter's intervention to ensure densely populated areas around the sanctuary were excluded by the Environment Ministry while notifying eco- sensitive zones.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)