Hebri bandh call evokes good response; Agitators decry Kasturirangan report

Udupi, Dec 17: The bandh call given by the Kasturirangan Varadi Virodhi Horata Samiti and other like-minded groups on Wednesday in Hebri town and surrounding villages of Udupi district to protest against the recommendations of the K Kasturirangan Panel Report on Conservation of Western Ghats evoked good response.

Most of the business establishments remained closed in the area while buses remained off the roads from the morning. Bandh was also observed in Hebri-Chara, Belanje-Kucchur, Nadpal and Kabbinale villages. More than 30 organizations including the bus operators union had expressed their support for the bandh.

A protest meeting was also held at the Hebri Bus Stand at 10 a.m. The farmers, labourers working in the industries and localities took part in the protest in large number.

Speaking on the occasion, Kasturirangan Varadi Virodhi Horata Samithi (Karkala) President Mutlapdi Sathish Shetty, alleged that the Kasturirangan and his team have unscientifically earmarked the boundaries. The implementation of the recommendations of the report would affect the people living in Hebri-Chara, Belanje-Kuchur, Nadpal and Kabbinale villages, he said.

The people in these four villages have been involved in agriculture and horticulture for generations. The report does not permit the use of chemical fertilisers, and it is not possible to survive by just organic farming, he said.

There were many rice mills and cashew factories in the region. These factories will have to be closed as these four villages had been marked under the orange zone. This will throw thousands of youth working in these mills and factories out of work. The report will have a catastrophic impact on the local economy, he said.

The people of these villages were not against the conservation of Western Ghats. But the report had been prepared merely on the basis of satellite images. Those preparing the report had not visited the villages or taken the opinions of the people. œHence, the government should keep these four villages outside the ambit of the report,  he said.

The government could however bring the areas under reserve forests and the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in these four villages, under the jurisdiction of the report, he said.

Meanwhile, Sachin Meega, vice-president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Kisan Cell, has said that the State government should urge the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment to revise or modify the recommendations of the K. Kasturirangan Panel Report on Conservation of Western Ghats.

Mr Meega said it was essential to see that the recommendations of the panel were implemented in such a manner that it did not create any problems for the farmers and workers living in the Western Ghats and its surroundings in the State.