Kerala   

The Munnar effect

The Munnar effect is quite evident in the ongoing drive launched by officials against encroachments in different parts of Kannur district. Equally inspired by the Government's war on encroachers are environmental activists .

Recently, a group of greens under the aegis of the Payyannur-based Society for Environmental Education in Kerala (SEEK) visited the ecologically important areas located near Thalassery and Pazhayangadi to identify encroachments. Their findings included a number of encroachments that took place over the last several years. Reclamation of wetlands, encroachments on riverbanks, development of housing enclaves and hotels and shopping malls on wetlands in violation of even the Coastal Regulation Zone rules came to the notice of the SEEK.

The team led by SEEK director T.P. Padmanabhan is hopeful that the exposure of the encroachments in ecological hotspots in the district will open the eyes of the authorities thanks to the `Munnar effect.'

MOHAMED NAZEER

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