Karnataka: Rampant construction in forests affecting ecology, says BK Mukherjee
Bengaluru: Unprecedented illegal construction activity inside three of the five national parks — Bandipur, Kudremukh and Nagarahole-are causing immense damage to the rich biodiversity in these areas, says Accountant General (Economic & Revenue Sector Audit), B.K. Mukherjee.
He told the media here after releasing a performance report on the administration of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of the state that such activity has increased five times over the last 19 years. “Alarming rise in encroachments from 42,518 acres in 1995 to 2,04,442 acres by October 2014 has not only badly affected biodiversity of the Western Ghats region but also affected movement of wildlife,” he added.
He, however, admitted that he was aware of shortage of manpower in the forest department. And though the forest department claimed that it received 4,400+ complaints about encroachments, it was able to act only on 1400-odd cases.
“The slow pace of investigation because of lack of proper human resources and rapid commercialisation and growing agriculture and horticulture related activities are steadily affecting the Western Ghats region in a big way,” he observed.
According to him, till March 2016 only seven of 51 resorts operating in these sanctuaries had obtained legal permission. “Of these 51, as many as 20 resorts function in eco sensitive zone within range of 0.5 km to 10 km radius of eco sensitive zone, and of these 20 resorts as many as 11 resorts do not possess any formal approval to run their business. In the case of 50 homestays that are operating in these parks, as many as 15 are functioning illegally,” he added.
He claimed that even mini-hydel power projects(MHP) approved by the state government have caused substantial ecological damage within forest areas. “For instance, where Beedalli MHP is constructed, it will have a devastating effect on ecology.
The project came up after destroying endemic Madhuca Insignis species of plants. This is a critically endangered riparian species once thought to be extinct and was rediscovered after a gap of 120 years in 2014,” he added.
