Kerala publishes a revised cadastral map cutting the proposed ecologically sensitive area to 8,590.69 sq km

13 October 2026

The Kerala Environment Department has published on its website a revised cadastral map of the State's ecologically sensitive areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats.
The map is based on the documents Kerala submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on September 24, in response to the Ministry's seventh draft notification.
The proposed ESA area falls from 9,993.7 sq km to 8,590.69 sq km.
The revised map largely excludes 33 of the villages earlier identified as ecologically sensitive.
In Idukki, 23 of 51 villages are excluded, along with cardamom cultivation areas in the Cardamom Hill Reserve, while the Munnar Gap Road remains within the ESA.
In Pathanamthitta seven villages remain, with the Sabarimala temple complex, Pampa, the Nilakkal parking ground and the Neelimala route excluded.
In Ernakulam, the residential areas of Kuttampuzha, the district's only village on the earlier list, are fully excluded.