Wildlife board likely to take final call on Kappatagudda forest today

The  State Wildlife Board, which is scheduled to meet in Bengaluru on Monday, is likely to take a final decision on restoring conservation reserve tag on the Kappatagudda forest region in Gadag district.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is the chairman of the board, will be seeking the opinion of the panel on Kappatagudda based on which the state government will decide its next action. There have been agitations after the state government in November last withdrew a notification declaring 17,872 hectares of the reserve forest in Kappatagudda as a conservation reserve.

Several seers under the leadership of Siddalinga Swamy of Tontadarya Mutt have been holding agitations against the state government’s move to remove the reserve tag. At the same time, some farmers’ associations have welcomed the government’s move stating the livelihood of around 650 farmer families depended on the region. Besides, Kappatagudda landscape is neither adjacent to any of the existing national park or sanctuary, they point out.

The Forest department, along with Gadag district administration, has conducted public consultation meetings to collect opinion from people on declaring Kappatagudda a conservation reserve. Environmentalists and those in favour of restoration of the conservation reserve tag point that the region is an ecologically sensitive area known for rare medicinal plants.