BENGALURU: The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), All India Students’ Association (AISA), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPIML) and Adivasi Sangharsh Morcha held a protest at Freedom Park on Sunday, against the rapid erasure of forest cover and natural resources at the behest of vested interests.
The protest comes right on the heels of the Union government backpedalling on its stance on the Aravallis, and deciding to expand its protected area. However, the definition of hill ranges is still contested, with a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices JK Maheshwari and AG Masih set to hear the matter on Monday.
“There is no Plan B when it comes to saving our nature and jal-jungle-zameen. From the choking air of Delhi to the vanishing forests of Chhattisgarh and Great Nicobar, and from disasters unfolding in the Himalayas, we are witnessing a relentless policy of destruction pushed by the Modi regime against our future and the future of generations to come,” read a statement from CPIML.
On the destruction in Karnataka, the protesters said mining and other anti-environmental activities in the biodiversity-rich Sandur hill region are causing severe damage to the fragile ecology of the Western Ghats, and posing a serious threat to Karnataka’s biodiversity.
“Air pollution in Bengaluru is steadily worsening, and under the pretext of easing traffic congestion, the government has proposed the construction of a nearly 17-km tunnel road passing through Lalbagh, a project that will only create a deeper respiratory crisis in the city.
In Honnavar, the government is moving ahead with plans to build a port, which would completely destroy the coastal ecology. The livelihoods of the fishing community in Honnavar are being taken away. Under the guise of tiger conservation, Adivasi communities in Nagarahole have been denied forest rights,” the protesters added.