The Hindu Business Line : Plea to exempt plantations from Ecologically Fragile Act

KOCHI: UPASI has urged Kerala Government to create an environment conducive for the plantations industry and exempt the sector from the purview of the Ecologically Fragile Land Act. No other state has such a provision, which threatens the very existence of the plantations.

The provisions of this act is hanging like as 'Damocles sword' and anyone would think twice before deciding to invest in a plantation estate in the state, Mr D P Maheswari, UPASI President, said, addressing the 69th Annual conference of the Association o f Planters of Kerala (APK) here on Wednesday.

As per the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Managemet of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, government can takeover any land with or without compensation if found ecologically fragile, he said.

Plantations play an important role in the state's economy and it is necessary for the state government to give full support for its survival.

Corporates no longer find this industry lucrative enough and many are exiting. State should create an environment conducive to the plantation industry's development, he said.

Mr Maheswari also urged the government to permit the plantations to utilise some portion of the land for commercial viable activities-- planting some other crops or tourism related activities which would help in generating alternate income.

The present laws of the state government do not permit that. – PTI

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