Villagers form human wall against buffer zone order

SC order will curtail freedom of land owners, they say

Hundreds of villagers, including senior citizens, women, and children, took part in a human wall protest at Chakkittapara in Kozhikode district on Saturday flaying the recent Supreme Court order that all protected areas, including national parks, wildlife reserves, and sanctuaries, need a 1-km buffer zone where all other activities will be banned.

The protest was organised under the aegis of a local action committee led by Chakkittapara grama panchayat president K. Sunil. K. Muraleedharan, MP, inaugurated the protest that also drew the participation of leaders of various settler farmers’ organisations.

Ignoring the monsoon drizzle, the protesters lined up along the road between Chakkittapara and Peruvannamuzi. They alleged that inhuman rules in the name of conserving nature and wildlife challenged the freedom of poor farmland owners and residents of Chakkittapara and Chempanoda villages.

“The protest by farmers settled in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district is a classic example to follow while opposing the latest buffer zone proposal,” said a local coordinator of the anti-buffer zone action committee. He added that the crisis facing people in Gudalur was beyond words.

Members of various panchayats who came in support of the agitation. Since an expert committee headed by the Divisional Forest Officer will be responsible for granting permission for agriculture and other allied activities in buffer zones, there will be no flexibility in the process, they said.

The action committee leaders made it clear that the human wall was just a beginning of a series of future agitations against the order. More regional committees of farmers will be constituted to strengthen protests, they said.