Under protest pressure, Pinaryi govt dumps contentious amendment to Kerala Forest Act

The chief minister said there would not be any amendment that will cause hardship to people or create concern among them.

There had been several controversial amendments in the Bill, which allowed forest officials to arrest or detain a person without warrant, even outside forest. Penalty for petty forest crimes, such as fishing in forest areas, had increased manifold. Temporary staff on roll were vested with powers of forest officials while the latter were given power to act against pollution of rivers flowing even outside the forest.

Various farmer outfits have been protesting against the proposed amendments. Besides, the Communist Party of India(Marxist)’s Idukki district committee and ruling LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) have also raised concern about the bill, which they feared will lead to high-handedness of forest officials. Opposition Congress-led UDF has planned a massive campaign along the hilly regions of Kerala, which also forced the CPI(M) government to abandon the bill.

As local body elections are 11 months away and assembly elections in April 2026, the government did not want to antagonise people living in areas close to forest tracts, who are already under increasing threat from wild animals.