Tiger reserve at Male Mahadeshwara forest deferred for now
BENGALURU: The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday deferred a proposal to develop a tiger reserve at Male Mahadeshwara forest, about 200km from Bengaluru, to a future date. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and a team of officials will speak to the stakeholders concerned, to discuss the pros and cons and look into the Union government’s rules before they take a final call.
Some ministers warned against rushing ahead with the decision because there are human habitations around the designated area, which have to be factored in too. The fifth cabinet meeting held this year revised the rules of the contentious Section 30 of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Act for developing industrial lands, and decided to offer fairer and more timely compensation to land losers and farmers. It is expected to end the problem of litigation between Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and farmers. Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani has been pushing for this for at least 4-5 months.
The cabinet decided to utilise the services of retired IAS officer Naghath Tabassum for one more year on contract basis as director, under the Suvarna Health Programme. Among other decisions, Handloom Development Corporation will be revived at a cost of Rs 45.73 crore, which is a long-pending demand of the weaver community. There was no official cabinet briefing due to the session.