aranyaparva

This is a letter drafted by Mahesh Bhat, with inputs from me, Arati Kumar-Rao and Vageesha – requesting the hon. CM to avoid the Inter-Basin Transfer (IBT) and also drop the idea of the Hubballi-Ankola railway line.

I am requesting you, dear reader, for your support – please send a physical copy of this letter to the Hon. CM of Karnataka, once the lockdown is lifted and everyone is safe. Until then, THIS LETTER CAN BE EMAILED TO cm.kar@nic.in. You can choose between the English and Kannada versions.

*** Please copy the text into your email and send it to the above-mentioned address ***

English Version:

Shri B S Yeddiyurappa

Honourable Chief Minister

Government of Karnataka

Vidhana Soudha

Bengaluru – 560 001

Respected Sir,

We are writing to you regarding the proposal of “Inter Basin Transfer” (IBT) that will involve diversion of 484 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water from various west-flowing rivers with the least impact on the environment to fill up nearly 36,000 tanks and lakes across Karnataka. And about the shocking news the State Wildlife Board has approved the Hubballi-Ankola Railway line that will be an environmental disaster.

Inter Basin Transfer:

IBT envisages getting the ‘excess water’ from various rivers – Kumaradhara, Netravati, Sharavati, Bedthi and Aghanashini. All these rivers originate in the Western Ghats and flow westwards towards Arabian sea. As you are already aware, the Western Ghats and the rainforests there are older than the Himlayas and are one of the global biodiversity hotspots.

Comprising only 6% of the world’s surface area, rainforests contain one-half to three-quarters of the earth’s species of plants and animals. This is in part because the groups of organisms which contain the most species (arthropods and flowering plants) are found in high concentrations in tropical forests. In fact, a land area of 0.5 km2 in some tropical forests contains more tree species than does the entire landmass of Europe and North America combined!

The Western Ghats also act as giant sponges, which absorb the rain water and slowly release them as natural springs. Protection of Western Ghats is imperative for securing our future! Already many ongoing projects have accounted for felling of over 20 lakh trees, already endangering this fragile ecosystem. Also the massive landslides that happened two years ago in Kodagu and Wayanad were results of indiscriminate deforestation.

Sir, IBT talks about bringing the ‘excess’ water from these rivers to ‘bayalu seeme’. However we would like to bring to your notice that the notion of ‘excess water’ is misleading. Any water in a river is used by various parts of the riparian ecosystem. The flow that reaches the sea carries both silt and water and is vital for maintaining the health of estuaries in the coastal areas.

Estuaries are important natural places. They provide goods and services that are economically and ecologically indispensable. Often called nurseries of the sea, estuaries provide vital nesting and feeding habitats for many aquatic plants and animals. Estuaries also help to maintain healthy ocean environments. They filter out sediments and pollutants from rivers and streams before they flow into the oceans, providing cleaner waters for marine life. Estuaries are also the economic centers of coastal communities.

Justice Radhakrishnan of the Supreme Court of India said this in a judgement of WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 202 OF 1995, T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union Of India & Others said that

“Environmental justice could be achieved only if we drift away from the principle of anthropocentric to ecocentric. Many of our principles like sustainable development, polluter-pays principle, inter-generational equity have their roots in anthropocentric principles. Anthropocentrism is always human interest focussed and non-human has only instrumental value to humans. In other words, humans take precedence and human responsibilities to non-human based benefits to humans. Ecocentrism is nature centred where humans are part of nature and non-human has intrinsic value. In other words, human interest does not take automatic precedence and humans have obligations to non- humans independently of human interest. Ecocentrism is therefore life-centred, nature-centred where nature includes both human and non-humans. National Wildlife Action Plan 2002-2012 and centrally sponsored scheme (Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats) is centred on the principle of ecocentrism.

Our honourable President Shri Ramanath Kovind has said in an essay that was published in Hindustan Times on March 20, 2020 “Respect for nature may be the next lesson intended for us. Homo sapiens is the only organism that has overpowered all other animals, taken control of the whole planet, and even set foot on the moon. Now it stands humbled by a microorganism. We would do well to keep in mind the fact that at the end of the day we are merely biological organisms, dependent on other organisms for survival. Humankind’s craving to control nature and exploit all its resources for profit can be wiped out in a stroke by an organism we cannot even see with the naked eye.”

Sir, it is important to understand that our home – earth and the natural resources are not just for the use of human beings but also of the many millions of other species. Nomadic shepherds of the Deccan consider the wolf as their brother and say that the wolf too has a share in their flock. Taking a leaf from their book, we also need to make sure that we share our natural resources with other beings, whose survival is of vital importance for our survival.

While you have the worthwhile goal of oorige ondu kere – It would be worth considering – oorige ondu kere – aa kereyalli maLey neeru! Madakas, the traditional watershed rainwater harvesting structures can be considered to meet the drinking water needs and that of agriculture in bayalu seeme. Many local interventions have already been successfully carried out. Experts who are working in this area can be tapped to meet the water needs of the people without destroying vast swathes of Western Ghats.

Research suggests that outbreaks of animal-borne and other infectious diseases such as Ebola, Sars, bird flu and now Covid-19, caused by a novel coronavirus, are on the rise. Pathogens are crossing from animals to humans, and many are able to spread quickly to new places. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that three-quarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans originate in animals. “We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants – and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses,” David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times. “We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.” Hence preserving the Western Ghats is imperative to prevent outbreaks of such dreaded diseases. If we do not preserve the biodiversity of our Western Ghats, the next epicenter of a contagion could well be Karnataka. We already have the example of Kyasanur Forest Disease in Karnataka.

Life will march on. It might not include tigers and elephants and turtles and gorillas and towering forests. And it might not even include us. It might just be cockroaches and tardigrades and bacteria and viruses. But life will march on. We can choose to continue to curate and preserve what we find precious about the current diversity, including ourselves, by pulling back on our self-destructive consumption and waste. Or we can choose that does not include us and the beauty we love.

Diverting the west flowing rivers will directly impact the Western Ghats which will, in turn, impact all the east flowing rivers. We request you to take the correct decision in saving our rivers and the Western Ghats.

Hubli Ankola railway line :

The project entails felling nearly 2 lakh trees to lay a 164.44-km length railway line whose benefits are questionable according to various studies , especially with respect to transferring ore from mines in Ballari to coast.

According to the CEC report the ore available in Ballari-Hosapete’s mines is only for two decades after which mining would be economically unviable. Distance between Hospet-Hubli-Vasco is 230 km and distance between Hospet-Hubli-Ankola(the proposed route) would be 212 km which are almost the same. Why not take that route instead of fragmenting forests by building over 50 major bridges and over 21 kms of tunnels through the evergreen forests?

The line diverts 1472 acres of pristine forests and introduces fragmentation to two tiger reserves , Bedthi Conservation Reserve and Anshi Dandeli Hornbill reserve. These forests through which the railway line cuts support 29 species of mammals, 256 species of birds, many more species of reptiles and butterflies. Majority of the mammals are in the IUCN red list and also protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1972.

The tracks between Kali Tiger Reserve and Bedthi Conservation Reserve and more than 80% of the line cuts through Western Ghats.

It was also identified that elephants moving out of Dandeli Sanctuary pass through Bhagwati, Kalghatgi, Kirwatti, Mundgod, Katur and go up to Hangal. The proposed rail line would pass through the region and fragment the corridor and pose a threat of train hits and loss of property and lives of humans and livestock. Hence We request you not to go ahead with the Hubballi- Ankola railway line as well. No amount of afforestation will compensate for the loss of rainforests.

We would like you to go down in history as the CM who saved Western Ghats rather than the CM who destroyed it. Please save the Western Ghats for the sake of us and the future generations.

Yours Sincerely,

—————-

Kannada Version (translated by L C Nagaraj):