Forest, Biology and Environment Minister Ishwara B Khandre has given a clear instruction to clear all the encroachment of forests since 2015 in the Western Ghats of the state including Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Shimoga, Mysore, Chamarajagara, Belgaum, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Hassan.
Alarmed by the devastating landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad and Uttara Kannada’s Shiruru, state Forest, Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed the forest department’s additional chief secretary to issue orders for the removal of all forest encroachments, plantations, home stays and resorts built illegally in all the hilly areas of the Western Ghats, and to take strict action to clear the forest encroachment immediately and instructed to submit report within 1 month.
While 11 precious lives were lost in a landslide near the state capital, over 300 innocent people died and more than 200 people went missing in a landslide in the neighboring state of Kerala.
Speaking further he said that the action is being taken as a precautionary measure following the landslides at Shirur near Ankola where 11 precious lives were lost in a landslide and added that we are taking these incidents as alarm bells for our state and the survival of the Western Ghats is important today than ever before.
Ishwar Khandre also informed that experts have opined that landslides are occurring as a result of unauthorised constructions, including homestays, resorts and coffee plantations, and the felling of trees so the government has taken this seriously.
The unscientific cutting of hills for highway widening is also a trigger for landslides. The government is consulting experts to mitigate and prevent such issues in the future.
Heavy vehicular traffic in Western Ghats areas is also dangerous and is causing stress on the Western Ghats and added that the government was planning to regulate trekking, as such activities will also impact as thousands of people come for trekking in the hills during weekends.
