<p>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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />“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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Forest minister Ramanath Rai, will be visiting the affecting areas before preparing its report.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />‘33 taluks eco-sensitive’<br /><br />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. <br /></p>
<p>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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />“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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Forest minister Ramanath Rai, will be visiting the affecting areas before preparing its report.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />‘33 taluks eco-sensitive’<br /><br />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. <br /></p>
