Kerala to submit recommendations on tiger reserve forests on Monday
29 Sep 2012
Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy said in Thiruananthapuram yesterday that the state government's recommendations on tiger reserve forests would be submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday.
The advocate-general had been entrusted to submit an affidavit after discussing with the Forest-Wildlife department and the Sabarimala Devaswom Board.
He pointed out that the master plan for Sabarimala, considering the next 50 years' development was prepared following the directive of the Supreme Court.
Land meausring 12.67 acres had been allotted from the tiger reserve for Sabarimala development with the consent of the Supreme Court.
The government would try and convince the Supreme Court not to introduce any restriction on pilgrims to Sabarimala. According to Chandy, the Public Accounts Committee headed by Bhuta Singh had visited Sabarimala in 2003 and criticised the government for not having proper infrastructure and directed it to ensure more facilities.
In 2004, the UDF government submitted a memorandum to the union government to allot forest land for the development of Sabarimala.
