Proposal to review status of Kappatagudda 'postponed'

Fierce protests on Wednesday forced the State Wildlife Board to skip Thursday's discussion of the proposal to review the status of Kappatagudda as a wildlife sanctuary, with the chief minister directing officials to submit an action taken report.

While officials who were part of the Board said there was no proposal to review the status of Kappatagudda, an area of 244.15 sq metre comprising reserved forest and hills, sources in the government said a note from the chief minister’s office had sought to include the matter in the agenda.

In fact, the matter did come up during the meeting of State WIldlife Board on Thursday, but the chief minister sought to keep it aside. “The issue has become sensitive due to the protests in Gadag. It has been decided to take up the matter after some months,” the sources said, adding that the upcoming byelections had led to the issue being put on the backburner.

The government’s back and forth comes amid intense lobbying by the mining industry to exploit the minerals discovered in the rich biodiversity area of Kappatagudda.