Chikkamagaluru: A feasibility report of the forest department has given the thumbs down for a new road planned from Mudigere to Dakshina Kannada through the reserve forests of Shishila-Byrapura, saying it will damage the biodiversity of the area, fragment an important elephant corridor and increase the risk of frequent landslides.
Besides its unlikely to significantly improve trade or transportation in the area, in its view.
Questioning the rationale behind the new road, forest officers of Chikkamagaluru say it will not be able to handle heavy traffic either, making it a commercial failure.
While the proposal for building the road has not yet been submitted to the forest department by the Public Works Department, a team of Preeti CAD Consulting Engineers entered the reserve forest without its permission to carry out a survey and had a First Information Report (FIR) registered against them for their troubles.
It is alleged that some vested interests are lobbying to build the road to increase the land value of the region and help increase commercial activity by opening resorts and home stays and also develop the place on the lines of Kotigehara, a junction point for those travelling to Hornaadu, a pilgrim centre and Dakshina Kannada via Charmadi Ghat.
Opposing the building of the new road, Mr D V Girish of the Bhadra Wildlife Conservation Trust, warns he could take legal action to stop it as his pleas to the officials concerned have fallen on deaf ears.
The activist believes the road will interfere with the water flow to the river Netravathy from several rivulets.
