BELAGAVI: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also Water Resources Minister, met Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi on Wednesday demanding his immediate intervention to help Karnataka get forest and wildlife ministry’s permission to implement the Kalasa-Banduri project.
Shivakumar also submitted a memorandum to Yadav briefing him about all the official and legal formalities which have been completed by Karnataka with regard to the project.
The 80th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife had deferred, in a meeting held in October 2024,Karnataka’s proposal to use 10.88 hectares of forest land for the Kalasa project in Western Ghats. The board had directed Karnataka to submit a written representation addressing legal issues raised in the meeting, according to the memorandum.
The National Board for Wildlife had rejected Karnataka’s proposal citing legal disputes between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra related to the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s award, which was pending before the Supreme Court.
Karnataka, however, had contested the decision of the National Board for Wildlife stating that the Supreme Court does not restrain Karnataka from proceeding with the project. Karnataka had also stated that the 10.68 hectares of forest land needed for the project was not part of the wildlife sanctuary but was part of a tiger corridor.
Karnataka had also listed out the benefits of the project stating that it would provide a water body for the wildlife in the area.
“Karnataka has reduced the forest land requirement for the Kalasa project from the original 258 hectares, which was approved in-principle in 2003, to just 26.92 hectare. We also reduced the forest land requirement for the Banduri project from 243 hectares to 28.44 hectares.
This reflects our commitment to conservation. It is in the state’s interest that the Union government has to ensure that this project is cleared without any further delay,” Shivakumar stated in the memorandum.