The Hindu 13.02.2010
Environmentalists oppose rapid urbanisation in Kodagu
Staff Correspondent
| ‘Restrictions should be imposed on conversion of land for commercial use’ |
‘Take steps to check influx into Kodagu’
District administration urged to put a cap on granting licence to resorts
Madikeri: Rapid urbanisation in Kodagu with conversion of agricultural land for commercial purposes such as resorts should be stopped immediately and steps taken to check influx into the district, Col. C.P. Muthanna, former president of the Coorg Wildlife Society, said here on Wednesday.
The State Government should impose restrictions on conversion of agricultural land for commercial purposes such as resorts and residential layouts, Col. Muthanna, who heads the Environment and Health Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, told presspersons.
Ravi Chengappa, convenor of Cauvery Sene, was present.
Land in and around important towns in the district, including paddy fields and coffee plantations, was being bought by outsiders to develop residential layouts and build hotels and resorts in an unscientific manner, Col. Muthanna said.
Col. Muthanna appealed to social organisations involving Kodavas, Kodagu Gowdas and other principal inhabitants of Kodagu to discuss the issue and take it up with the elected representatives and the State Government. There were restrictions on outsiders to buy land in Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern States. Such restrictions should be introduced in Kodagu also.
Stating that Kodagu’s landscape should never change for the worst, Col. Muthanna urged the district administration to take steps to regulate the unplanned growth of towns in the district, particularly, Madikeri, Virajpet and Gonicoppa.
The district administration should put a cap on granting licence to resorts or expansion of the existing ones at least for the next five years. The same rule should apply to home stay facilities that had mushroomed in the district in the garb of tourism development, Col. Muthanna said.
There was a need for the people of villages in the district to resist construction of resorts. They should pressure gram panchayats not to grant no objection certificates, Col. Muthanna said.
It was important for the elected representatives to fight for reservations to principal inhabitants of Kodagu to contest elections to local bodies, he said. Mr. Chengappa said that the environmentalists would initiate legal action if sand mining, extraction of semi-precious stones, illegal felling of trees in the forests and rapid urbanisation continued in the district. The struggle of environmentalists in Kodagu was not supported by the elected representatives, he added.
