Tribals up in arms against Kerala eco-tourism plan
Suresh Menon in Thrissur

Tribals in Kerala have said that they will oppose the government’s attempts to implement the state-sponsored eco-tourism project in the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary tooth and nail.

Demanding that the proposed eco-tourism project should be dropped forthwith, the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGM) leader, C K Janu, said tribals would oppose all tourism projects coming up in the 77 square km Muthanga range of the sanctuary.

Emphasising that all such projects were being allowed with a view to gradually transfer land to private parties thereby depriving tribals of their land rights, she said the proposed tourism project, which provides for conducted tours and constructions to enable tourists to see wildlife at close quarters, would damage the eco-system of the sanctuary.

She said that the state government had earlier presented a proposal of the project at the Global Investors’ Meet held in January but had decided to shelve it after tribals agitated against it.

Claiming that 8,000 acres of land under the Muthanga range originally belonged to tribals, she said these tribals were evicted from their ancestral lands in the 1970s to enable the Birla group to plant eucalyptus.

These tribals, comprising 75,000 landless families, therefore plan to encroach it and settle down there.

The AGM would hold a meeting in Thrissur on June 29 to chalk out the future course of action and seek the support of like-minded environmental groups and activists, she said.