Forest fires in the otherwise completely green landscape of the Western Ghats during the winter at Somanakadu valley of Barimale in the Charmadi range has set off alarm bells among the greens in the locality.
Ironically, such incidents are happening frequently in the district/border area represented by Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, B. Ramanath Rai.
Environmentalists allege that these are not “natural” but attempts by estate owners in the region to extend their boundaries illegally into reserve forest areas.
Dinesh Holla from Sahyadri Sanchaya said he witnessed the fire on Saturday and Sunday during a trek with a group. The region had seen forest fires this February too, destroying a vast extent of forest land, including Shola forests and grassland. Despite repeated complaints, the Forest Department did little to prevent the forest fires and bring to book the culprits, he said.
Barimale region is the birthplace of Aniyur, Sunala, and Neriya rivulets — tributaries of the Netravathi. Recurring forest fires and consequent encroachment of forest land will have a cascading effect on the flow of the Netravathi, which has already been drying up between Belthangady and Bantwal in the district, Mr. Holla told The Hindu .
Mr. Holla said Ramanagudda in the Charmadi range used to be covered with green grass at least till February.
However, deficient rainfall this monsoon dried up all the water sources making the grass dry. Mruthyunjaya rivulet, a tributary of the Netravathi, has its origin in the region, he said.
General secretary of National Environment Care Foundation, Mangaluru, Shashidhar Shetty, said many people have developed estates growing rambutan, rubber, coffee, among other produce at the foothills of the Western Ghats and have regularly been encroaching reserve forest lands.
Mr. Holla alleged that the modus operandi of estate owners is to set fire to the forest first year, spray chemicals next year to completely denude the region of any green cover, and extend the boundary the following year. “Through this, hundreds of acres of forest land have already been encroached upon,” he alleged.
Responding to this complaint raised by environmentalists, Mr. Rai said that the department has been taking action against those setting forests on fire and encroaching lands. But the department cannot procure helicopters as suggested by them since the country is “not that advanced”, he said.
He said that the department recently recruited over 4,000 field personnel to guard the forest wealth.
Hunting goes on too
It is not just forest encroachment that goes on unabated in the Charmadi range of Western Ghats, but also hunting of wildlife in broad daylight, allege environmentalists.
Sahyadri Sanchaya’s Dinesh Holla encountered a group of about 35 people armed with guns and sharp weapons at Baluru Gudda near Kottigehara in Chikkamagaluru district during a recent trek. His attempts to dissuade the group from hunting were futile and instead he and his companions were “advised” to mend their way, he said. Mr. Holla’s complaints to the Forest Department did not get any response, but he got calls from the hunting gang warning him to keep away from informing the department, he alleged.
