State's 'faulty' report led to ESZ notification, claims MP

The Centre notified the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) on the basis of a "faulty" report submitted by the state government, Mysore-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha said and asked the people of 53 villages coming under the ESZ not to be anxious. 

He was speaking at a meeting of the Kodagu district development coordination and monitoring committee in Madikeri on Wednesday.

Simha, who belongs to the BJP, claimed that there was "no mistake" on the part of the Centre in notifying Pushpagiri, Brahmagiri and Nagarahole. The Centre submitted its report to the Supreme Court on the basis of the report on demarkation given by the state government. The villagers need not worry, he added. 

"Only quarrying is prohibited in the ESZ; there is no prohibition on farming or construction. I am committed to taking up the issue about the recommendations of Kasturirangan report. There will be a change in Karnataka politics within eight months. I will impress upon the Centre to set right the loopholes in the report," he said.

Simha said miscreants were spreading rumours that a railway line would connect Kodagu with Kerala. There is no proposal before the Centre to provide railway connectivity to Madikeri. The railway line will be built only till Kushalnagar, added.  

The highway between Bengaluru and Mysuru will be converted into six lanes while it will be a four-lane road till Madikeri, he said and clarified that there was no proposal on extending the road from Madikeri to Bantwal and that no trees would not be felled.

The parliamentarian said the government had not yet taken a decision on widening the Channarayapatna-Arkalgud-Shanivarasanthe-Somwarpet-Madikeri-Virajpet-Makutta road. Tenders have been invited only for carrying out a feasibility study, he added. 

Simha directed that the work on opening Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras in 104 Gram Panchayats in the district be completed. On Aadhaar, he said corrections could be done at post offices, but the facility would not apply to people from outside the state.