Wildlife board approves land diversion ...from the pages of THE HINDU newspaper. Development plan for Sabarimala.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Board for Wildlife has approved diversion of 12.675 hectares from the Periyar Tiger Reserve for development of pilgrim facilities at Sabarimala, said the Minister for Tourism and Devaswom, K.C. Venugopal, here on Monday. As the matter requires concurrence of the Supreme Court, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), as the user agency, will be approaching the Court in a week.

The Minister said the Government hoped that the Board would get the concurrence of the Court as all formalities for forest clearance had been completed. The Central and State Governments will be supporting the Board's petition before the Court. Stipulations He said that while giving the approval, the Board had stipulated that no further demand should be made for land from the Reserve for development of the pilgrim centre. Development should be taken up as per an eco-friendly master plan. The TDB will pay the Net Profit Value of the forests being diverted and the cost of compensatory afforestation.

Mr. Venugopal said he had convened a conference of officials of the TDB and the Government to chart out plans for the coming season. All arrangements to receive pilgrims at Nilackal, Pampa and Marakoottam will be completed before November. A committee headed by the Chief Secretary will monitor the progress of work every two weeks. The Forest Advisory Authority will be approached for permission for permanent construction at Nilackal. Now, only temporary arrangements are permitted. 

He said the Government was examining whether revenue land was available at Kambakallu for compensatory afforestation. The Chief Minister's trip to the area, encroached by ganja cultivators, is also aimed at ascertaining the status of the land. Justifying the decision to get an advance of Rs.18 crores for the water supply scheme for Guruvayur from the Guruvayur Devaswom Board, the Minister said the scheme was mostly for pilgrims. The town's population is only 50,000. The amount  will be recouped from water charges. For the drainage scheme, the Devaswom's share will be only 30 per cent.