MANGALURU: Environmentalists have strongly condemned Karnataka’s decision to oppose the implementation of Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats and have been seriously considering legal remedy to protect the Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ).
Environmentalist Dinesh Holla who is associated with the agitation against Yettinahole project, accused the State government of opposing the Kasturirangan report in order to protect several influential persons who have encroached upon the forests in the Western Ghats to build resorts, homestays and other commercial establishments. Also, he said that the government was worried about the fate of several ‘unscientific’ projects like Yettinahole and others for which thousands of crores of rupees have already been spent so far.
Holla took serious objection to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai stating that the implementation of Kasturirangan report will affect the livelihoods of thousands of people living in Western Ghats. “It is not the people who will be affected but those who have encroached upon the forest lands for their selfish gains. They have spread all kinds of lies to mislead common people, saying that they will not be allowed to carry out agriculture once the report is implemented. But there is nothing of that sort in the report,” he said.
He described the State’s opposition to the Kasturirangan report as the defeat of State’s people, adding that at least now the people should realise the importance of protecting ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and join hands to press the government to implement the report. Stating that the landslides and cloudbursts in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada and change in rainfall pattern witnessed this year have a direct connection to the massive ecological disturbances caused to Western Ghats, he said its high time that the government and people realise the importance of taking some firm measures to prevent such disasters from repeating in future.
He said he and some like-minded people are planning to consult legal experts in the coming days in order to fight out the case legally. Also, he appealed the people affected by natural disasters and disturbances to the Western Ghats to join hands in their respective places and ensure that resolutions are passed by gram panchayats in order to force the government to implement it.