No EFL status for taluks: Rajendran

Thiruvananthapuram: Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran has denied news reports that the State government will declare Devikulam, Udumbanchola and Peerumade taluks in Idukki district as ecologically fragile areas.



In a statement here on Sunday, Mr. Rajendran termed �baseless propaganda� the news reports that the government had made a statement to that effect in an affidavit before the High Court. He said the government had merely submitted an affidavit before the High Court on the various steps it had taken against encroachments in Munnar.



�There is no reference to such a decision in the affidavit. The government has so far taken favourable steps to sort out the problems faced by high range farmers, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Idukki and small merchants in Munnar,� he said.