Farmers in Keralam’s Kollam are calling for a hartal in the hill region over the exclusion of villages from the ESA exemption list

A village in Kerala that was included in the draft ESA notification. | Photo credit: File photo

A joint front of leftist farmer groups announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the hilly region on October 27 to protest against the inclusion of eight villages in Kollam district under the Union government’s proposed Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification. The shutdown, scheduled from 6 am to 6 pm, is also to protest the alleged sidelining of these eight villages by the government while recommending exclusion of another 33 villages across Kerala from the controversial proposal.

“The Union government’s draft notification has wrongly annexed nearly 76,000 hectares across eight villages in Kollam without giving due consideration to the serious concerns of local farmers and highlanders. Vital commercial and residential towns like Kulathupuzha and Channappetta are adversely affected by this large-scale designation, which threatens the daily existence of thousands of families who have been farming these families for generations.

The farmers’ body strongly criticized the state government for not consulting farmers’ organizations or local representatives before submitting the exclusion list to the Centre. They termed the government’s failure to convene a special session of the legislature to discuss the matter, or release the official map submitted to the central government, as highly undemocratic and an act of political double-dealing, leaving the public in the dark.

As part of the intense protest, large-scale marches will take place in all affected districts on October 24 and 25. On the day of the hartal, comprehensive day-long satyagraha protests will be organized in all the affected villages to press for the demands and express their protest against the continued apathy of the central and state administrations towards the vulnerable population of the hill region.

Published – 9 October 2026 19:55 IST