Top Kerala News developments today

Key news developments in Kerala on Dec 18, Sunday

Here are the important developments from Kerala to watch out for today.

1. Thamarassery Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil will hold a press conference in Kozhikode. He will likely spell out the Church’s stance on the contentious satellite survey report enumerating the commercial buildings and homes in the Supreme Court-proposed one km ecologically sensitive buffer zone around 23 protected forests in the State. Settler farmers in 115 panchayats in Kerala have protested the survey findings, stating that they scarcely reflected the ground reality.

They have accused the surveyors of glossing over hundreds of buildings in the proposed zone. Residents fear losing their land if the State government fails to defend their demand for a total exemption from the buffer zone, given Kerala’s high density of population and an estimated 73 per cent forest cover.

2. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will speak at a public rally marking the conclusion of the CITU State conference in Kozhikode.

3. Bharatiya Kisan Union national spokesperson, Rakesh Tikait, will inaugurate the valedictory session of the national conference of the South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis in Kozhikode.