Belagavi
A group of environmentalists under the banner of ‘Parisarakke Navu’ (We for Environment) have expressed fears of a likely catastrophe in the Western Ghats bordering Karnataka and Goa.
The team which included environmentalists, Shivaji Kagnikar, Sujeet Mulgund, Captain Nitin Dhond and Nyla Coelho, submitted a memorandum to Karnataka CM, requesting the government to focus on emergency measures in the wake of the recent disaster at Wayanad-Kerala.
The memorandum handed over to Belagavi Deputy Commissioner (Collector) Mohammed Roshan stated that hills collapsed in Wayanad, Kerala and in the mountainous and coastal areas of Karnataka, killing hundreds of people, destroying buildings and properties before dawn. Similarly, there have been many landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in North India.
The environmentalists have also stressed on initiating a number of measures which include the creation of a Western Ghats Authority, declaring micro-ecological zones, prohibition of quarrying in sensitive ecological zones, and restricting building construction, infrastructure construction in the sensitive ecological zone.
Other measures include strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), promoting and encouraging sustainable agriculture and forestry, supporting and promoting of community partnerships in conservation efforts, and protecting sacred forests and traditional knowledge.
