The Kerala High Court sought responses from the Centre and state on a PIL to halt pineapple cultivation at Athirappilly and Kallal estates, noting the land’s “potentiality of a man-animal conflict,” and asked the Plantation Corporation to address objections.
KERALA: The Kerala High Court has requested responses from the Centre and the state government regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) aimed at immediately stopping pineapple cultivation at the Athirappilly and Kallal plantation estates, citing significant ecological risks.
Acknowledging the land’s “potentiality of a man-animal conflict,” a bench led by Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M directed the Plantation Corporation of Kerala, which leases the site, to consider and respond to the representation against the pineapple growing activities.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Delays Hearing on GM Mustard Case Until April 15
The court also removed State Agriculture Minister P Prasad from the list of parties involved in the case and scheduled the next hearing for March 26.
Factual Backgrounds:
A petition filed by wildlife activist Angels Nair alleges that the Plantation Corporation of Kerala has persisted with pineapple cultivation despite a stop memo and objections issued by the Forest Department. The plea points out that the 50-year lease agreement executed in 1970 between the Forest Department and the Plantation Corporation expired six years ago, yet cultivation activities have reportedly continued.
The petitioner argues that pineapple monoculture entails “heavy use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides” that eventually seep into the Chalakudy river. It is further contended that this practice has resulted in soil degradation, depletion of food and fodder resources for wildlife, and a rise in incidents of human-wildlife conflict.
The petition states,
“Pineapple monoculture involves heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that leach into the Chalakudy river. The pineapple farm poses a significant ecological risk due to soil erosion, loss of food and fodder, increased human-wildlife conflicts, and pesticides contaminating the Chalakudy river, endangering the health of three million human lives and millions of flora and fauna,”
Highlighting concerns over environmental sustainability and public health, the plea warns that pesticide contamination of the Chalakudy river endangers “three million human lives and millions of flora and fauna”.
On these grounds, the petitioner has requested the court to direct an immediate halt to cultivation in the plantation areas, citing alleged ecological harm and non-compliance with forest department directives.
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
