Greens oppose Kukke golden chariot plan

Environmentalists have opposed the state government's proposal to build a golden chariot for the Kukke Subrahmanya Temple and have started an e-mail campaign asking the chief secretary to drop the project. The activists have instead asked the government to take up a drive to clean river Kumaradhara.

Coming down heavily on the government for deciding to squander taxpayers' money on the proposed golden chariot, National Environment Care Federation (NECF) general secretary Shashidhar Shetty said, "Kukke Temple will be saved only if Kumaradhara and Kumaraparvatha are conserved. There is a need to conserve the sources of rivers including Kumaradhara. The Kumaraparvatha should be declared a protected forest.”

"We do not want our money to be used to fulfil the vows of politicians,” he said in an email.

The email further said that there was a need to check encroachment of river sources and sensitive biodiversity areas in the Western Ghats. Trekking to Kumaraparvatha should be banned. Measures should be taken to check the flow of sewage into rivers Netharavathi, Phalguni and Kumaradhara at Puttur, Vittal, Bantwal and Subrahmanya. A buffer zone of 75 metres from the banks of rivers Netharavathi, Phalguni and its tributaries should be created and saplings should be planted.

The government should create a separate corridor for the King Cobra, which are facing extinction.