Greens worried over works in Cauvery Wildlife sanctuary 

Head of Forest Department, PCCF Punati Sridhar however clarified that there are no plans of any civil construction inside the sanctuary.
Area around the memorial of P Srinivas in Gopinatham Wildlife Range of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary was cleared | EXPRESS
Area around the memorial of P Srinivas in Gopinatham Wildlife Range of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary was cleared | EXPRESS

HUBBALLI: Wildlife activists have raised an objection to ongoing works in the core area of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, where about three acres of forestland has been levelled. Work is underway at the Gopinatham Wildlife Range of the sanctuary in Kollegal taluk of Chamarajanagar district for the last few weeks. The place where the work is going on has a memorial dedicated to late IFS officer P Srinivas, who was killed by forest brigand Veerappan in November 1991. 

The area around the memorial has been levelled and sources confirmed to TNIE that the work was taken up after additional funds from the Tourism department were promised. 

It’s still unclear about the number of trees that had to be cleared for levelling such large patch of forest land. The work site is a elephant habitat and any kind of tourism and human encroachment can be fatal for the area and the wildlife here.  

“There are reports of a plan to construct a large memorial inside the Cauvery Sanctuary for IFS officer P Srinivas who made a supreme sacrifice more than two decades ago. Deservedly, he was also decorated with the Kirti Chakra. While there can be no objection to build a memorial for him, the site inside the Sanctuary is the only issue,” pointed out President of Wildlife First, K M Chinnappa.

“Srinivas was a very simple and unassuming officer and I had the honour of working under his guidance, even he would have probably objected to such a move. It would be most appropriate if a well planned memorial is constructed at Aranya Bhavan or a suitable location outside forests. This would be a much better tribute which he deserves. I therefore appeal to the Forest Department to modify the plan,” Chinnappa added.

Head of Forest Department, PCCF Punati Sridhar however clarified that there are no plans of any civil construction inside the sanctuary. “The memorial area which is located in the forest was damaged during the recent floods. Hence a restoration work is being taken up. I can assure you that we have no plans for construction of any building. The sanctuary already has a nature interpretation camp,” the officer said.
“The work on the ground shows that a large area has been levelled. These are the places which need utmost protection and we must preserve them for the future. All kinds of human intrusions must be kept outside the sanctuary,” the wildlife activist added. 

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