Greens fight forest dept roads in Kudremukh

MANGALORE: The unique rain forest ecosystem at Kudremukh faces a new crisis: A network of roads being built by the forest department itself in some of the most pristine wilderness landscapes of the Kudremukh National Park.
Wildlife conservationists fear that the means of protection adopted by the forest department is far more damaging than what it intends to protect.Sources in conservationist circles say the roads in hilly grasslands and shola forests of Kudremukh have damaged hundreds of trees and removed vast tracts of grass cover from steep slopes.
Noted writer and green activist Poornachandra Tejaswi is alarmed. He has written to environment and forest minister K.H. Ranganath, saying that roads in the steep terrain of Kudremukh could result in heavy soil erosion during monsoon.
Tejaswi said he had observed earlier that roads fragmented wildlife habitat.
A similar road-building exercise at Neelibeedu by a mining company to explore new iron ore deposits had led to severe destruction of ecology, he pointed out.
Tejaswi said conservationsists had fought against the mining company for three long decades. But now when the forest department itself is damaging the environment whom could environmentalists approach, wondered a perplexed Tejaswi.
He has urged the minister to direct forest officials to stop the work immediately and to progress only on the basis of suggestions made by an expert committee.
Conservationists say these roads would not only open up new forest areas for timber smuggling, wildlife poaching and other illegal activities, but also revive old logging roads, which are now covered with thick undergrowth. This will sure cause immense damage to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem of Kudremukh, they add.
Sources say some areas of Kudremukh forests have not witnessed human habitation and encroachment due to inaccessibility of these remote jungles. Construction of approach roads to these areas will contradict the very purpose of declaring this region a national park.
They said long-term solution for providing effective protection to these forests from fire and other illegal activities would be through establishing regular anti-poaching camps with sufficient field staff. There are several examples of wildlife reserves in India, with similar terrain and habitat,where effective protection has been provided without forming any network of roads — like in Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park, Silent Valley National Park, etc.
Roads carved inside the Kudremukh forestby the forest department using bulldozers.