THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With just nine days left for the deadline to file a complaint regarding the buffer zone, allegations have been raised that the field inspection could not be started in most of the panchayats as the help desk members were not given training and mobile app for geo mapping. Although it was announced that the parts of the panchayat limits of the map published on the government website will be made available, that too has not been provided.

The field inspection was hampered by the fact that the auxiliary group members of the help desk had not yet been trained. Panchayat presidents of Thiruvananthapuram district say that the mobile app will be given only after training.

At the same time, the officials explained that the reason is that many panchayats have not yet provided the names of those who need to be trained. A mobile app for geo-tagging has been developed by KSREC (Kerala Remote Sensing and Environment Centre).

Term extended

The term of the expert committee appointed to make inspections in connection with buffer zones has been extended to February 30. It was originally scheduled to end on December 30 but delay in direct surveys led to the extension.