BENGALURU: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and State Wildlife Board members on Thursday crushed the lobby and pressure from various mining firms and politicians to remove the wildlife sanctuary tag of Kappatagudda.
Though it was not the prime agenda of this meeting, the matter was discussed in brief because of mounting pressure from various quarters. On learning that Kappatagudda was gazetted as a wildlife sanctuary and if its status has to be changed, permission will be required from the National Wildlife Board, the Ministry of Environment and Forests as well as the Supreme Court, he brushed the file aside and said, “Status quo will remain. Kappatagudda will remain a wildlife sanctuary.”
More than conservation and gold mining, Kappatagudda has been a political issue since 2006. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in May 2019. A day before the meeting, many in Gadag came to know that the CM held a meeting with mining barons. To mount pressure on the state government not to change its decision, school children, locals and conservationists held a protest in Gadag on Wednesday.
Many mining companies have been repeatedly holding discussions with forest officials, Gadag administration and politicians to change the status or open some part of the sanctuary for mining. A forest department official said that in the guise of empowering locals, they want to make this region a second Ballari.