The Kerala government has published a revised Kuttampuzha Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) map that excludes the village’s residential and tribal settlement areas from the proposed protected zone, according to a report by Mathrubhumi. The map has also been submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as part of the state’s proposal.
Under the revised proposal, 476.19 square kilometres of Kuttampuzha village would be included in the ESA. The area is described as forest land. Kuttampuzha village has a total area of 519.28 square kilometres, leaving 43.09 square kilometres of inhabited areas outside the proposed ESA boundary.
The state Environment and Climate Change Department published a detailed proposal map in a KML file on its website on October 12. KML, or Keyhole Markup Language, is used to display geographic data and allows the public to examine the proposed boundaries. The state government said the file was released for public information.
Kuttampuzha was the only village in Ernakulam district included when the Western Ghats ESA proposal was prepared. Residents had previously raised concerns that inhabited parts of the village could be brought entirely within the ecologically sensitive zone. The newly published map shows the state’s recommendation to exclude all identified residential areas from the proposal.
The areas excluded in the revised submission include Manikandanchaal, Kallelimedu, Mamalakandam and Inchathotti. The proposal also leaves out tribal settlements, including Kunchippara, Thalavachappara, Variyam, Thera, Uriyampetty and Vellarankuthu. The exclusions are intended to address concerns over the impact of the ESA designation on existing residents and settlements.
The revised map follows discussions between the state government and a central team examining the ESA proposal. The central team visited Kerala from July 14 to 16, 2026, and met Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan, ministers Shibu Baby John and Sunny Joseph, and officials from various departments on July 15.
During those discussions, the state government stated that Kerala’s ESA should be limited to 8,590.69 square kilometres across 98 villages. However, the Union government issued a draft notification on July 27 before the central team submitted its report, according to the report. The state has since sent its revised Kuttampuzha proposal to the Union environment ministry.
The published KML file provides the public with a boundary-level view of the state’s recommendation. The proposal will now remain subject to the Union government’s consideration as part of the wider process for finalising the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive area notification.
