Kasturirangan report: State BJP leaders to meet PM Modi

Following a revised notification on Western Ghats, state BJP leaders have decided to take a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking modifications into the recommendations of Kasturirangan Committee report.

Chikkamagaluru MLA C T Ravi led the BJP district unit workers in a protest against state government at Hanumanthappa Circle here urging the government to fulfil various demands.

He expressed his commitment on taking a delegation of state MPs to New Delhi to impress upon the prime minister.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too should focus on solving the problems of rural areas, he demanded.

Ravi said the said Kasturirangan Committee report has rubbed salt on the wounds of people in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga and Hassan districts. Though the issue of saving Western Ghats assumes paramount significance, the livelihood should also be taken into consideration. The state government should file an objection in this regard and introduce stricter laws to save forest from further encroachment, he said.

The state government should also announce a farm loan waiver at the earliest as the farmers already reeling under drought. Besides, cow sheds should be opened to ensure feed to livestock. Though 160 taluks in the state are declared drought-hit, the government is passing the buck on Centre, instead of taking up relief works, he criticised.

The chief minister should have convened a meeting of district in-charge ministers and officials and asked them to take up relief works on warfooting basis. But the ministers are engaged in blame game against the Union government, he claimed.