Idukki Hartal Highlights Growing Tensions Over Farmland, Forests and Elephant Corridors

A 12-hour hartal called by the CPI(M) over the proposed Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification concluded at 6 pm on Friday after disrupting transport, educational institutions and commercial activity across Kerala’s Idukki district, police said.

The protest centred on demands for greater clarity in the state’s ESA cadastral map, opposition to classifying the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) as forest land, and withdrawal of orders affecting plantations and farmland. The party also opposed proposed elephant corridors and the High Range Mountain Landscape (HRML) project.

CPI(M) district secretary C V Varghese had said milk distribution and newspaper delivery would continue during the hartal. Vehicles carrying people for weddings and funerals were exempted, along with tourists travelling from outside the district and participants attending sports events.

Police personnel were deployed at major locations to maintain law and order. Most schools and colleges remained closed, commercial establishments shut in several areas, and private buses stayed off the roads. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated limited services.

The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education cancelled the Higher Secondary Improvement Examination scheduled in Idukki on Friday. Officials said the examination would be conducted on another date in the district, while examinations elsewhere in Kerala continued as scheduled.

The hartal followed the state government’s publication of a revised ESA cadastral map on October 13. The proposed area was reduced from 9,993.7 square kilometres to 8,590.69 square kilometres across 98 villages. In Idukki, 23 of the 51 previously identified villages were excluded, along with cardamom cultivation areas in the CHR.

On October 15, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to consider the state’s revised proposal before issuing a final notification. The state proposal seeks to exclude inhabited areas, agricultural land and plantations from the proposed ESA limits.

The final decision on the ESA notification rests with the Union government. The hartal was scheduled from 6 am to 6 pm on October 16.