Madikeri: A group of people, including Madikeri MLA K.G. Bopaiah, former MLC A.K. Subbaiah and those drawn from various political parties, on Friday urged the Government to drop the proposed move to create a Greater Talacauvery National Park by merging the three existing wildlife sanctuaries in Kodagu.

The Government should not play into the hands of a few environmentalists, Mr. Subbaiah told presspersons here after a preliminary meeting organised to oppose the move. Different organisations, in 2003, had proposed to the then Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, to carve out a wildlife area comprising Talacauvery, Brahmagiri and Pushpagiri wildlife areas in the district in the first phase and then convert it into a park. Mr. Subbaiah said the people did not want the advice of pseudo-environmentalists in the name of nature and wildlife conservation. Animals and forests existed in the district without the help of the environmentalists for centuries. The only aim of the so-called environmentalists was to secure foreign funds in the garb of conservation, Mr. Subbaiah alleged asking why were they not speaking out against mining in Bellary or the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project?

It was unfortunate that environment groups had roped in the support of certain dignified retired officers of the armed forces. The officers should understand the evil designs of such groups and dissociate from them, Mr. Subbaiah appealed. The same environment groups were behind the stoppage of mini hydel projects in the district, he said. It was regrettable that certain forest officials too were hand-in-glove with them, he alleged.

Cheranda Nanda Subbaiah, former president of the Codagu Planters Association, asked how could the environment groups cajole the Government to agree for the national park idea without obtaining the opinion of the people. Those groups touted many forest compartments as catchment areas of the Cauvery, which was wrong. Durgaprasad, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, questioned the claims of the non-government organisations which had stated that no people would be displaced under the proposed scheme.

The second phase of the park plan envisaged securing UNESCO funds to settle the legal rights of the occupants in forests. Is this not misleading the people? he asked.

Kalachanda Ravi Thammaiah, who is the convenor of the Kodagu Western Ghat Inhabitants Liberation Organisation, spoke. Others present included B.N. Manu Shenoy, Nanda Ganapathi, P.S. Ganapathi, Peter Lobo and Jaish.

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