{
  "id": 13167287,
  "title": "Farmers in Keralam’s Kollam call for hill-region hartal over exclusion of villages from ESA exemption list",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/farmers-in-keralams-kollam-call-for-hill-region-hartal-over-exclusion",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T17:17:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/farmers-in-keralams-kollam-call-forhill-regionhartal-over-exclusion-of-villages-from-esa-exemption-list/article71564099.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Farmers in Kollam district, Kerala, are calling for a hartal, or general strike, across the hill regions on October 27 in response to the Union government’s draft notification that includes eight villages under the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) list. The farmers argue that this decision disregards the severe livelihood implications for local communities and highland residents, as well as the adverse effects on commercial and residential areas like Kulathupuzha and Channappetta. The organizers of the protest express strong criticism towards the State government for not consulting farming organizations or local representatives before submitting the exclusion list to the Union government. They deem the absence of a special Legislative Assembly session and the lack of public transparency concerning the official map submitted to the Central government as undemocratic and politically manipulative. In anticipation of the hartal, torchlight processions are planned across all affected wards from October 24 to 25. On the day of the strike, comprehensive demonstrations will be held in each of the affected villages to demand action and expose the alleged neglect of the hill-region population by both the central and state administrations.",
  "summary": "The shutdown, scheduled from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on October 27, is also in protest against the State government’s alleged sidelining of eight villages in Kollam while recommending exclusion of 33 other villages across Keralam from contentious draft",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}