Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology B. Ramanath Rai has said on Thursday that his stand on the Yettinahole project, which aims to provide water to six parched districts of south Karnataka, was the same as that of the State government’s.
Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the 61st Wildlife Week organised by Department of Forests and Environment at Karkala in Udupi district, Mr. Rai said that only 13 hectares of forest land would be used for the Yettinahole project.
Of this 13 hectares, 12 hectares were under deemed forests, while the remaining one hectare was under reserve forest.
The Environment Department had issued a ‘No-Objection Certificate’ to the project as it was meant for providing drinking water, he said.
On the Kasturirangan Report on Conservation of Western Ghats, Mr. Rai said that the draft notification of the Union Environment Department on the report had not taken the recommendations of the State government into consideration. Hence, the State government would file its objections to the report.
The State had suggested regulation of quarrying activities instead of restricting them, he said. The BJP was misleading the people with regard to the State’s stand on the report. The State government had given priority to the people’s welfare in its recommendations, he said. To a query on demarcating the Eco-Sensitive Areas (ESA) in Western Ghats, he said that the Kerala government had filed Eco-Sensitive Areas (ESA) report two years ago.
The State government too had filed ESA report after analysing the forest and non-forest areas.
The Centre had accepted Kerala’s report, but cold-shouldered the State government’s report, he said.
Tiger reserve
On the proposal for setting up a tiger reserve at the Kudremukh National Park, Mr. Rai said that the BJP government headed by the former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa had given the nod for the tiger reserve.
It was the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, which had approved the proposal. But the State government had opposed the creation of the reserve as the people were opposed to it.
“The BJP should stop politicising all issues,” he said.
