Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 26 -- Kerala has sought the exclusion of residential areas, agricultural land and plantations from the proposed Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) in the Western Ghats, with Environment Minister Sunny Joseph saying the state wants the area covered by the draft notification reduced from 9,993.7 sq km across 123 villages to 8,590.69 sq km across 98 villages.

The minister said the state sent its communication to the Union government on Thursday, outlining its concerns and suggestions on the latest draft notification published in July this year.

"Out of the proposed 9993.7 sq km of ESZ, 9107 sq km is forest land and the remaining 886.7 sq km being non-forest land. If the non-forest area is kept out of the proposed ...