Madikeri: The Kodagu Ekikarana Ranga has urged forest minister Eshwar Kandre not to approve the proposal to build a road through the Pushpagiri Sanctuary in Kodagu.The organisation opposed the revival of the project, citing legal complications and previous litigation. It recalled that the matter had reached the Supreme Court in 2012, following which the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) inspected the site as directed by the court. The CEC subsequently reported that the actions of certain officials and elected representatives were in defiance of the Supreme Court’s orders.The petition also referred to a Dec 2022 direction from the National Green Tribunal to the chief secretary to take compliance action regarding violations linked to the proposed road.According to the forum, fresh attempts are now being made to restart construction of the Pushpagiri road. It demanded that the proposal be scrapped immediately, noting that Madikeri MLA Mantar Gowda had sought budgetary sanction for the project.The organisation highlighted the ministry of environment, forest and climate change’s policy that prohibits construction of new roads inside national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. It also submitted an affidavit filed earlier by senior officers before the Supreme Court, in which permission for the road was denied.The forum urged the minister to intervene to ensure that no budgetary approval is granted for the project.
