Panchayat resolutions cannot alter ESA status: ANEC Trust

Kochi, Sep 25 (UNI) ANEC Trust has sought strict legal compliance, transparency and accountability in connection with resolutions passed or proposed by Grama Panchayats on the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) Draft Notification, S.O. 4106(E) dated July 27, 2026. In a legal notice to the Principal Director, Local Self Government Department (LSGD), Kerala, the Trust said local communities and Grama Sabhas had every right to raise their concerns, but a Panchayat resolution could not itself alter, exclude or determine the statutory environmental status of an area. A local body's resolution, it said, must remain within the jurisdiction conferred under…