Illegal land conversion threatens Kodagu greenery, says NGO

Madikeri: Illegal land conversion is taking place in Kodagu, alleged retired Colonel CP Muthanna, secretary of Save Kodagu, an NGO working to preserve the region’s green cover. He accused recently transferred district-level officers of irregularities.

Addressing reporters, Muthanna said that officials had granted permission for the illegal conversion of around 40 acres for a rest house within the Kiragandur gram panchayat limits in Somwarpet taluk. A request has been submitted to the deputy commissioner seeking cancellation of this land conversion.

He warned that unchecked land conversion is depleting Kodagu’s green and forest resources and affecting the flow of Cauvery water. “If such activities continue, towns like Gonikoppal and Virajpet will turn into large cities like Mysuru in a few years,” he said, adding that Somwarpet, Madikeri and Kushalnagar are also gradually urbanising.

Muthanna further claimed that a company is developing a large housing extension in Bittangala, while another firm is engaged in real estate development in Gonikoppal. He also alleged that a private commercial company has purchased large tracts of land from a major coffee-growing estate in Siddapura with the intention of converting it for real estate use.

Save Kodagu office-bearer Maletira Srinivas said that in Mugutageri village in south Kodagu, a four-acre field near the Ponnampet–Hudikeri Road has been filled with soil in preparation for a housing colony. He added that similar housing projects are underway near Balugodu, Bittangala, Aingala, Madikeri and Kalakeri Nidugane.