Alleging that the high tension line through Kodagu would be detrimental to the environment and wildlife, Air Marshal (retd) K C Cariappa urged the district administration and Forest department to find an alternative way.
He was addressing Raitha Sangha members who staged a protest against the high tension line project, in front of the DC’s office, here, on Tuesday.
Cariappa said, if the project is implemented, the wild elephant menace would increase, and the labourers would refuse to work in coffee plantations.
Kodagu Zilla Raitha Sangha president Kadyamada Manu Somaiah said that the Deputy Commissioner has not held discussions with the owners of the coffee plantations, where the line passes through.
Raitha Sangha Organising Secretary Nanjundegowda said that the DC would make himself “unavailable” every time Raitha Sangha members visited the district to stage protests. “The DC should listen to the grievances of the people. If the environmental balance of Kodagu is disturbed, River Cauvery will go dry. In order to prevent this, a meet of MLAs, MPs and protesters of Cauvery catchment areas has been convened in Mysuru on January 25,” he said.
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