Farmers in Keralam’s Kollam call for hill-region hartal over exclusion of villages from ESA exemption list

A joint front of Left farmer groups have announced a dawn-to-dusk hill-region hartal on October 27 in protest against the inclusion of eight villages in Kollam district under the Union government’s Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) draft notification. The shutdown, scheduled from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., also condemns the State government for allegedly sidelining these eight villages while recommending the exclusion of 33 other villages across Keralam from the contentious draft.

“The Union government’s draft notification has unjustly incorporated nearly 76,000 hectares across the eight villages in Kollam without properly considering the severe livelihood concerns of local farmers and highland residents. Vital commercial and residential towns such as Kulathupuzha and Channappetta are being adversely affected by this sweeping designation, which threatens the daily existence of thousands of families who have cultivated these lands for generations,” said the organisers.