Many enclosure villages located inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) under Noolpuzha panchayat are demarcated as eco sensitive zone (ESZ) in the map published on Thursday. Adding to the confusion, many of these enclosure villages are designated as forest areas in the satellite survey.
“It is totally confusing.Four of our wards (1, 2, 3 and 12) in Vadakkadad area are entirely missing in the satellite survey as these areas are classified as forest.
The panchayat borders with three protected forests spread over three states — the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve — and most of the human habitations there face the prospect of getting included in one-km ESZ if the SC order is implemented.