BENGALURU: Indiscriminate dumping of waste in the pristine forests of Devarayanadurga, comprising reserved, revenue and deemed forest area in Tumakuru district, has become a cause for concern. Despite awareness campaigns and vigilance measures, authorities express their helplessness in protecting the wildlife here from the adverse effects of temple and adventure tourism.
Every weekend hordes of tourists, including the IT/BT crowd from Bengaluru, descend on this scenic hilly region and leave behind dumps of plastics and glass bottles, which not only spoil the habitat that is home to natural springs and streams but also cause injuries to monkeys, vultures, lorises and other wildlife.
Young families of wild Hanuman Langurs forage in the waste and one monkey was seen limping after being cut by broken glass.
Conservationist and schoolteacher from Nagavalli, B V Gundappa, who is fighting a lone battle to save the slender loris says that since the revenue forests are not being protected by the Forest Department, the long-billed vultures that used to nest on the slopes have disappeared. The road that leads to the Yoga Narasimha Temple hill has not only disturbed precious wildlife but also destroyed their habitat, he adds.
“The construction of temples, illegal roads, encroachments of reserve areas, over grazing, smuggling of local tree species for firewood, selling of Makali beru (swallow root) whose tubers are food for wild boar and mongoose, are a bane of the forest’s preservation. Once, the temple slopes were a haven for three types of vultures — long-billed, white-backed and King vultures. Roosting and nesting came to a halt because of development of the temple parking lot,” says Gundappa.
Tumakuru Deputy Conservator of Forests M V Amarnath told Express that staff strength was adequate to deal with the issue. He added, “The hilly forest area around the Bhoga Narasimha and Yoga Narasimha temples that are managed by the revenue department are in the same condition and we have told the local administration to take strict action. However, this is a sensitive issue as temples abound in Devarayanadurga forests. It takes time to change the mindset of the people, especially on habitat protection issues.”