Eco-sensitive zone residents not to be displaced, says CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday assured people residing in eco-sensitive zones of Kodagu district under the Western Ghats that they would not be displaced. The zones were demarcated in a controversial report on Western Ghats by the  Kasturirangan committee.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with a delegation from Kodagu district here, Siddaramaiah said the government will not take any decision in haste and will protect the livelihoods of people residing in the regions marked as eco-sensitive areas in the Western Ghats report.

The chief minister said that he had met Union Minister for Environment and Forests Veerappa Moily and discussed the implementation of the report with him.

“He (Moily) has assured me that he will consider the ill-effects of the report on the Kodagu, Mysore and Dakshina Kannada region, before arriving at any conclusion,” Siddaramaiah said.

The chief minister said that the government will inform its opinion about the implementation of the report to the Centre, after a Cabinet sub-committee submits its opinion about the matter.

The sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Forest minister Ramanath Rai, will be visiting the affecting areas before preparing its report.

The Centre has also sought the opinion of the six states which have portions of Western Ghats region running through their borders to implement the report.

‘33 taluks eco-sensitive’

Siddaramaiah arrived at the decision after a detailed meeting with the two Members of Parliament (MPs) from Chikmagalur and Mysore, Jayaprakash Hegde and H Vishwanath, along with the Kodagu Astitva Horata Samiti and Forest Minister Ramanath Rai. The report has declared 33 taluks in the State “eco-sensitive.” It implies that as many as 1,549 villages will be affected if the report is implemented.