The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Idukki on October 16, opposing government orders and proposals that the party says threaten land rights and restrict the movement of residents in Kerala’s high-range district. Essential services, including milk and newspaper distribution and hospital-related services, will be exempted, CPM district secretary C V Varghese said at a news conference.
The hartal is centred on disputes over the proposed ecologically sensitive area, the classification of Cardamom Hills Reserve land and restrictions linked to elephant corridors. The CPM has demanded that the government withdraw the relevant orders and proposals and publish a cadastral map showing the boundaries of the proposed ecologically sensitive area.
A cadastral map would provide parcel-level clarity on the land included in the proposed zone. The party said the absence of clear information on the status of forest and revenue land was creating anxiety among residents across Idukki. The demand places land records and boundary disclosure at the centre of the dispute, alongside broader objections to environmental and forest classifications.
The CPM has also demanded that the move to classify Cardamom Hills Reserve as forest land be dropped. Varghese referred to a position taken by the V S Achuthanandan government before the Supreme Court in 2007, saying the government had stated that Cardamom Hills Reserve land was not reserve forest. He also claimed that the revenue department’s rights over the area had been reiterated in 2023-24.
The party further called for the abandonment of attempts to revive the HRML project, which it said had been shelved by the previous Left Democratic Front government. It also opposed orders relating to elephant corridors and demanded the restoration of what it described as people’s freedom of movement.
Varghese alleged that a proposal submitted by the United Democratic Front government had weakened the position taken by the previous government on the ecologically sensitive area. According to the figures cited by him, the earlier position covered 8,590.60 square kilometres of forest land in 98 villages.
The competing claims concern how forest, revenue and privately occupied land should be identified and administered in Idukki, as well as how environmental protections and wildlife movement corridors affect residents. The CPM’s announcement does not establish the legal status of the disputed land or confirm the government’s position on each demand. The party said the hartal would proceed on October 16, with the listed essential services exempted.
