BENGALURU: While people from all quarters remember Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Theertha Swami for his various social activities, conservationists recall his efforts in safeguarding the Western Ghats.
According to environmentalists, the seer was actively involved in protecting the Western Ghats, especially Kudremukh National Park, and his death, according to them, is a great loss to the conservation of the ghats.
“While the government is giving him so much respect, they should also follow his path. When anyone approached him with a problem related to the Western Ghats, he would always take up the issue and draw the attention of politicians,” said a conservationist.
In July 2000, the seer wrote to the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee regarding the exploitation of the Western Ghats. “You may be aware that the Western Ghats is the birthplace of many sacred rivers and particularly the Kudremukh area where three important rivers — Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi — are born. I was shocked to note from the letter that permission for mining at Gangrikallu, where the three rivers originate, has been sought. The lap of Mother Nature in the heart of the Western Ghats has already been desecrated by the Kudremukh mining company which has been mining for nearly 30 years. Mining activities have completely polluted the Bhadra river which now flows red ... Do not hurt people’s feelings and religious sentiments by taking this dreadful decision of allowing mining activities to continue and expand,” he wrote in the letter.
Again in September 2001, he wrote to the then chief minister S M Krishna on the same issue after he learnt that the Ministry of Environment and Forests, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, submitted that the Kudremukh company be given an extension of five years to windup operations and settle the issues of its employees. The seer urged the CMO to immediately intervene.
Wildlife First trustee Praveen Bhargav said, “As a mark of respect, the State government should ensure that the Western Ghats, with so many sacred rivers, are protected for future generations from mindless development projects that are being recklessly initiated.”