With coastal inundation, flooding, and landslides posing increasing threats, the proposed framework seeks to ensure that future land development in the state is sustainable, resilient, and scientifically informed.
Published Nov 02, 2025 | 7:41 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 02, 2025 | 7:41 PM
A vehicle inside tea plantations in Kerala's Munnar. (iStock)
Synopsis: Amid mounting pressure from climate change, declining agricultural production, and unplanned infrastructure expansion, the Kerala government constituted a committee to draft a comprehensive Land Use Policy. Comprehensive spatial data on land use and cover play a crucial role in resource management, agriculture planning, and environmental protection.
In a state where every inch of land is contested, Kerala’s fragmented and unscientific land-use pattern is fast turning into one of its biggest development bottlenecks.
Rapid urbanisation is swallowing up fertile farmland, fragile ecologically sensitive zones are being pushed to the brink, and recurring disasters — from landslides to floods — are exposing the cracks in the state’s planning framework.
Amid mounting pressure from climate change, declining agricultural production, and unplanned infrastructure expansion, the state government has finally constituted a committee to draft a comprehensive Land Use Policy.
However, the question is, can the policy balance competing interests — urban growth, ecological conservation, and food security — while making communities safer from disasters?
The state government has initiated the process of formulating a comprehensive Land Use Policy to address emerging environmental and developmental challenges.
On 13 October, the Planning and Economic Affairs Department constituted a high-level committee chaired by Prof R Ramakumar, a member of the Kerala State Planning Board, with the Land Use Commissioner as convener.
The panel includes representatives from 30 key departments and agencies spanning environment, agriculture, industries, infrastructure, and disaster management.
While the demand for formulating such a policy has been present for some time, it’s said to have gained traction following the recommendations made in the Kerala State Action Plan on Climate Change 2023–2030.
This document, released in 2022 by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, underscored the urgent need for a holistic review of land use in the face of changing climate patterns.
It also pointed out that the state currently lacks an integrated spatial planning framework beyond statutory demarcations such as ESAs, CRZ, and wetlands.
The document further called for the need to develop a high-resolution, GIS-based, spatio-temporal land use and land cover database to enable climate risk–informed zoning.
According to it, this will guide optimal land allocation, consolidate fragmented land resources, and maximise ecosystem functions.
With coastal inundation, flooding, and landslides posing increasing threats, the proposed framework seeks to ensure that future land development in the state is sustainable, resilient, and scientifically informed.
Land is one of the most critical natural resources shaping the success of any region’s development. Its proper utilisation determines not only economic efficiency but also ecological balance.
Land use refers to human activities on land — such as agriculture, housing, and industry — while land cover includes natural features like vegetation, water bodies, and soil. Understanding both is vital for effective planning and sustainable growth.
In Kerala, land has been at the heart of transformative socio-economic changes. The state’s historic land reforms drastically altered landholding patterns, reshaping its agricultural landscape.
Agriculture remains the dominant land use, accounting for about 50.8 percent of Kerala’s total geographical area of 38.86 lakh hectares in 2023–24.
Forests occupy 27.8 percent, while non-agricultural uses have expanded to 15.7 percent — reflecting growing urbanisation and infrastructure development.
Comprehensive spatial data on land use and cover play a crucial role in resource management, agriculture planning, and environmental protection.
As the draft National Land Use Policy emphasises “Optimum Land Use Planning,” Kerala’s challenge lies in balancing agricultural productivity, forest conservation, and urban expansion.
Wise and sustainable land management is thus essential for ensuring food security, ecological resilience, and long-term development.
Kerala, with just 38.86 lakh hectares of total geographical area, stands at a critical juncture.
The pressures of rapid urbanisation, climate change, population density, and competing land demands from agriculture, industry, housing, and conservation have created an urgent need to rethink how the state uses its most limited resource — land.
The existing land use framework, still anchored in laws like the Kerala Land Utilisation Order (1967), is inadequate to address the state’s evolving realities.
With fragmented governance and outdated classifications, Kerala needs a comprehensive, data-driven, and climate-resilient land use policy to ensure sustainability, equity, and growth.
Kerala’s unique topography — from the Western Ghats to the coastal plains — makes it one of the most climate-vulnerable states in India.
According to the State Action Plan on Climate Change, unplanned land use has amplified hazards such as floods, landslides, and coastal erosion.
The 2018 floods, which devastated 13 districts, exposed the dangers of encroachments on wetlands and paddy lands. Sea-level rise of 3.7 mm per year since 2006 and projected warming of 1–2°C by 2050 threaten coastal ecosystems and agriculture.
Yet, the absence of hazard-based zoning means nearly 15.7 percent of Kerala’s land in flood-prone zones remains vulnerable to development.
Soil erosion, reservoir siltation (up to 48% capacity loss), and biodiversity loss in ecosystems such as mangroves and shola-grasslands highlight the urgency for zoning-based land regulation integrated with climate adaptation strategies.
Kerala’s land use pattern, as detailed in the Economic Review 2024, reveals a steady decline in agricultural land.
Once spread over 8,02,000 hectares in 1980–81, paddy cultivation has shrunk to just 1,91,000 hectares in 2019–20.
This decline, driven by urban expansion, labour shortages, and low returns, has led to food insecurity in a state that now produces only one-third of its rice requirement.
Simultaneously, non-agricultural land use has surged to 15.7 percent, threatening the livelihood of nearly half the workforce engaged in the primary sector.
Cash crops such as coconut (760,770 ha) and rubber (551,030 ha) dominate but face yield drops due to pests and climate variability.
The SAPCC notes that Kerala’s current framework lacks agro-ecological zoning, essential for optimising land use and ensuring sustainability.
Kerala’s land governance is fragmented across over ten separate laws, leading to overlaps, disputes, and corruption.
The state’s Vision 2031 seeks to correct this through two landmark initiatives:
“The unified land use code will not be just another legal document,” said Revenue Minister K Rajan recently. “It will be a living, responsive system, designed to minimise disputes and promote investment,” he added.
By 2031, Kerala aims to become a state free of land disputes, powered by digital mapping, high-resolution GIS, and cross-sectoral coordination.
Kerala’s urban population nearly doubled from 25.9 percent in 2001 to 47.7 percent in 2011 — and is projected to reach 80 percent by 2050.
This rapid urbanisation, coupled with inward and outward migration, has fragmented landholdings (average size now 0.18 hectares) and deepened inequality.
Marginal farmers, tribal communities, and coastal fisherfolk — already among the most vulnerable — face rising displacement and resource scarcity.
SAPCC 2.0 identifies nine highly vulnerable districts, including Palakkad (agriculture) and Kollam (forests), where poverty, low irrigation (only 392,000 ha), and poor infrastructure amplify risk.
These socio-economic realities call for inclusive and equitable land management, ensuring development without marginalising vulnerable communities.
Kerala’s land story began with revolutionary reforms.
The Kerala Land Reforms Act (1969), evolving from EMS Namboodiripad’s 1957 vision, dismantled feudal ownership, imposed ceilings, and redistributed land to the landless.
Complemented by the Kerala Land Utilisation Order (1967), it mandated paddy cultivation and regulated conversions.
While these measures ensured social justice, they also caused land fragmentation and limited flexibility in the modern economy.
The Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act (2008) added ecological safeguards but faced criticism for restricting development.
Now, as Kerala approaches its 75th anniversary in 2031, the state is preparing for another landmark shift — one that blends its legacy of equity with modern sustainability.
The proposed Land Use Policy, backed by digital integration, environmental safeguards, and cross-sectoral governance, aims to make Kerala sustainable, resilient, and investment-ready.
By linking land management with climate resilience, urban planning, and food security, Kerala seeks to build a future where growth doesn’t come at the cost of ecology or equity.
If the land reforms of the 20th century gave land to the tiller, the land use reforms of the 21st century must give sustainability to the state.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
