BENGALURU: In response to recent landslides in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, and other parts of Karnataka during the pre-monsoon rains, Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre has directed officials to assess the carrying capacity of the Western Ghats and submit a detailed report within three months.
In a written directive dated May 27, to the Additional Chief Secretaries of Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, the Minister highlighted experts’ concerns that increasing road and infrastructure projects in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats are endangering the region.
“The ongoing development is believed to be contributing to soil instability, resulting in damage to property, crops, wildlife, and human life,” he said in the note. Experts, scientists and nature lovers have also warned that continued degradation of the Western Ghats could lead to severe water shortages in the future, Khandre said.
Acting on this, the Minister has instructed the Member Secretary of the Biodiversity Board, officials from the Evaluation, Planning, Research and Training wing in Karnataka, and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to conduct a joint study.
The Western Ghats, a biodiversity hot spot, accounts for 60% of Karnataka’s forest cover and supports a rich variety of flora, fauna and insect species.
Minister Khandre stressed the Ghats’ critical role in influencing monsoon patterns and underscored the urgent need for their preservation.
In a recent incident, at least four persons, including three children, died and three others were feared drowned after heavy and continuous rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods across Mangaluru on Friday. Three of them died after a portion of land fell on their house when a huge mango tree got uprooted at Montepadav in Manjanady near Deralakatte. A family of six lived in the house.