Dams, power plants huge threat to Western Ghats
We may be looking at climate change and all the resulting hardships, but Bengaluru continues to lose its trees to subways and signal-free corridors while the authorities show little concern for the damage they are doing to its environment. For a while there was hope as the eighties saw widespread chanting of the mantra of sustainable development, but the change , if any, has only been for the worse as natural resources continue to be plundered everywhere in total disregard for green concerns.
Karnataka which translated sustainable development to mean allowing mini hydel projects to come up in the core areas of the Western Ghats, is today paying the price in more ways than one. Worse, at least six major projects including dams, roads and power plants are threatening the sanctity of the ghats which will fortunately soon be declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, giving conservationists hope that this will take the pressure of them and protect the rivers they are home to. But there is growing concern as although governments came up with the idea of afforesation to compensate for the trees that were cut to make way for developmental projects, the results have been far from satisfying.
“The Western Ghats have tremendous genetic value and any damage done to them is irreversible. They support our economy by providing us water for drinking and agriculture. The protection of forests around Talacauvery where the river Cauvery originates is crucial for our survival and economic growth,” underlines Professor N A Madhystha, an expert on the Western Ghats.
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