Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)
Karkala, Sep 21: "Narendra Modi - led central government is preparing to implement Kasturirangan report. BJP leaders are playing with the lives of people. They have been lying to the people, claiming that Karnataka government had not sent its report about people's opinion on this report. If the people are misled and covert efforts to implement the said report are made, we will fight it tooth and nail," warned former Karkala MLA and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary, H Gopal Bhandary.
Addressing a press meet at Hebri Congress office on Thursday September 20, Bhandary said that when the report was submitted to the then UPA government in 2013, forest and environment minister, Dr M Veerappa Moily, had forwarded the same to the states with instruction to study the report and send their opinions. Accordingly, Kerala state had collected opinions from the people and sent its report, which the centre accepted, he said. But Siddaramaiah government, which formed cabinet sub-committee to study Kasturirangan report, also formed experts committee which visited villages along with deputy commissioners and district in-charge ministers, collected opinions of the people and sent a report with the recommendation that restrictions suggested in the said report should be made applicable to ony reserved forest, he explained.
He said that before the election, Shobha Karandlaje had sought votes from the people, duly promising to see that Kasturirangan report is not implemented. He accused Karandlaje, Yeddyurappa, and Nalin Kumar Kateel,of owning silence in the matter and not raising this topic in Lok Sabha too.
He said that there is provision for accepting the Karnataka state's report like the Kerala report even now. He warned that if the central government tries to implement the anti-people report in its current form, the government itselfl will be solely responsible for adverse repercussions.
Block Congress president, Nire Krishna Shetty, women's Congress prepsident, Sujata Laxman, zilla panchayat former member, Manjunath Poojary, Mudrady gram panchayat president, Shashikala D Poojary and several others were present.