JOIN USWestern Ghats Task Force chairperson Ananth Hegde Ashisara was on Wednesday verbally abused and driven out of the city by BJP workers, when he was attending a meeting.
The BJP workers were protesting against a report submitted by Ashisara to include 16 hoblis of the district in the Western Ghats and for advocating Unesco’s natural world heritage site status for areas in the district coming under the Western Ghats.
They barged into the venue of a meeting of officials that the Task Force chief was holding, when he was giving details about steps to be taken to protect the bio-diversity of the district. They raised slogans and disrupted the proceedings.
The protestors said efforts were being made to evict the dwellers by declaring the district as forest area.
“You have taken money from foreign companies and joined hands with fake environmentalists. You cannot step into Kodagu district in future as your statements are detrimental to the district,” the BJP workers told him.
Ashisara was virtually hounded when he came to the Forest department guest house on the outskirts of the city for rest. He was prevented from speaking to mediapersons.
He was asked to leave the city at the earliest and never come to any place in the district. Later, the Task Force chief left for Mysore under police protection.