Karnataka   

‘Save forest valleys from wildfires in Western Ghats’

Sirsi: Sirsi-based Vruksha Laksha Andolan, an environmental organisation, has written to the Governor and the chief of the Department of Forests, urging them to save forest valleys in the Western Ghats from wildfires. The copy of the letter was released to the press here on Tuesday.

Chief coordinator of the organisation Ananth Hegde Ashishar has said that a large number of tree species were being destroyed because of the wildfires.

He demanded setting up of a Forest Fire Control Cell in the Malnad districts and utilisation of the Natural Calamity Fund for controlling wildfires.

The environment committee and natural calamity management committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner must hold discussions on controlling such incidents at the district level, he has said.

In view of the rare bio-diversity found in the valleys of the Cauvery, the Sharavati, the Tunga, the Aghanashini, the Bhadra, the Kali and the Bedthi in the Western Ghats region, steps should be taken to preserve it, he suggested. Joint efforts by locals and the department in association with environmental organisations should be made to preserve herbal plants and other species, he added.

Vruksha Laksha Andolan, Seva Sagar, Uttara Kannada Zilla Parisara Samiti, Gram Bharati of Hosanagar, Paschima Ghatta Ulisi of Chikmagalur, Samagra Vikas, Bangalore, and other organisations have appealed to the Governor and Forests Department in this connection.

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