The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : For tribal people, or are vested interests at play?

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Sunday, Jun 19, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

For tribal people, or are vested interests at play?

Divya Gandhi

Projects in Talacauvery cluster started sans MoEF clearance

A top political figure is believed to have facilitated these projects
‘Government is working towards vested interests, not for the rights of tribals'

Bangalore: Even as the Government expresses concern over the fate of tribal communities within the proposed UNESCO World Heritage Sites, evidence is mounting of powerful commercial interests that might be driving the opposition to the tag.

According to information provided by a prominent environmental group, which The Hindu corroborated independently with State Forest Department sources, there are at least four development projects in the Talacauvery cluster in Kodagu district that were started without clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

Projects

A top political figure, who holds a constitutional post in the State government, is believed to have facilitated these projects that include the laying of three roads within wildlife sanctuaries, and a drinking water project within a sanctuary.

Under the aegis of this politician, the following projects were initiated without the necessary clearances: Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary and Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, which account for three of the 10 sites proposed in the Western Ghats of Karnataka.

Most talked about

The most controversial of the projects was the laying of a 28-km road through the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in 2009, without the mandatory forest clearance from the MoEF. The case involved felling trees to asphalt the road (Madikeri Kadambkal Subramanya road) and was investigated by a team from the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court.

Pending clearance

The construction of two more roads are pending forest clearance before the National Board for Wildlife. These include a road through the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (Bittamangala Kutiyala V Badaga Road) and another through the Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Patti Todikaan road). The latter, that involved an illegal attempt to asphalt a dirt track, ran into trouble in 2004 when a Forest Offence Case was booked against the perpetrator.

Drinking water project

Finally, a dam near Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, to meet the drinking water needs of Madikeri, was initiated earlier this year without forest clearance, according to the environmental group. The project could have involved the submergence of 50 acres of the wildlife sanctuary area, they added.

Representatives of tribal communities are skeptical too of the State government's concern for their rights. “How can a State that has denied tribal communities the provisions of the Forest Rights Act claim to be fighting for our cause?” asks Roy David, convener of the National Adivasi Alliance.

“It is clear the Government is working towards vested interests, not for the rights of tribals,” he said.

Mr. David, who is campaigning against the heritage tag, added that the UNESCO title is only the latest among a series of interventions that have been carried out without consultations with people who inhabit the sites.

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