Decision soon on Kappatagudda forest: Siddaramaiah

Chikkamagaluru/Hubballi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here that a decision will be taken on the demand to restore reserve forest status for the Kappatagudda region in Gadag, at a meeting of the State Wildlife Board.  

Asked about the charge by senior BJP leader, Jagadish Shettar that the state government had withdrawn the tag to allow gold mining in the area, the chief minister shot back, “Shettar always makes charges. BJP leaders are experts in making baseless allegations.”

Later at a function in Mudigere, Mr Siddaramaiah said his government was ready to waive off farm loans of upto Rs 10,000 taken from cooperative banks  provided the Union government came forward to waive off another Rs 35,000 borrowed from nationalised banks.

“I will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday and will discuss with him the waiver of farmers' loans,” he promised.

Home Minister Dr G Parameshwar, who is in-charge of Chikkamagaluru, heaped praise on the Chief Minister, saying the state had achieved financial stability under him. He claimed Karnataka stood first among all states in development. Minister for Energy, D.K. Shivakumar addressed the gathering.

Seers, greens to launch legal battle
Several environmentalists and pontiffs are planning to launch a legal battle against the state government’s decision to withdraw the conservation reserve tag for Kappattagudda hill forest in Gadag district.

A new mode of opposing the government’s move comes in the wake of an unsuccessful meeting of the delegation with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Belagavi during the legislature session last week.

These environmentalists are alleging that Karnataka Wildlife Board, headed by Mr Siddaramaiah, has removed the tag under pressure from the mining and windmill lobby as these hills are rich in deposits of iron ore and gold. They expressed apprehension that the move would destroy various species of medicinal plants in an area spread over 18,000 hectares in Shirahatti and Mundaragi taluks. Therefore, they are planning to launch an awareness campaign, and take villagers into confidence before launching the legal battle. “The government has withdrawn the forest reserve status without taking environmentalists and religious heads into confidence. Medicinal plants in the hills are falling prey to the superstition of the people as it has been tradition in the region to burn the forest to appease rain god. A Conservation reserve tag for Kappattagudda will facilitate erection of a fence around the region. This will help protection of vegetation and wildlife by preventing forest fire. Therefore, we are planning to take up a legal battle by approaching the green bench,” says environmentalist C S Arasanal.