By P.T. Bopanna
Close on the heels of cutting down 50,000 trees in Coorg to make way for the high-tension power transmission line to supply power to Kerala, a new project has been planned by Kerala to slice through the reserve forests in Coorg for the Thalassery-Mysore rail line.
The proposed railway line through the core area of the Western Ghats could lead to a major ecological disaster and affect the generation of water in the Cauvery catchment areas. As the rainfall in the catchment area has declined in the last two years due to the government sponsored looting of the Western Ghats, the inter-state water war between the riparian states in the Cauvery basin could worsen in the coming years and accentuate the drinking water crisis in cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru.
The Kerala government has commissioned the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRC) to do a feasibility study of the Thalassery-Mysuru railway line.
Though successive governments in the past had rejected the railway line proposed 57 years ago as being unviable, the Kerala government has shown inclination to take up the project, mainly because the Kannur International Airport will start operations in the next one year.
According to a report, as per a survey estimate submitted to the Railway Board, the 247.5-km line between Thalassery and Mysuru via Wayanad will cost Rs.3,209.01 crore and the 298.75 km via Coorg Rs.3,778.71 crore.
The report notes that the DMRC study will also look into the possibility of a new alignment as the Thalassery-Mysore Rail Line Action Council has pointed out that a corridor via Iritty and Virajpet will be around 145.5 km and will go through only five km of reserve forests.
The main beneficiary of the project seems to be the Kerala timber lobby as thousands of trees have to be cut for the new railway line. The lobby is said to be influential in Coorg also as they are the main source of political funding for politicians in the district.
It may be recalled that politicians in Coorg were silent when over 50,000 trees were felled last year for the power line to Kerala. These same politicians had opposed the Kasturirangan report which sought to regulate tree felling in the Western Ghat.
Meanwhile, though the railways was all set to start work on the new Mysore-Kushalanagar-Madikeri rail line, the project is likely to be delayed as the Modi government at the Centre is gasping for breath after the demonetization exercise backfired.
Let us build railway lines from Coorg directly to the living rooms of all these ministers behind these ecology destroying projects. How about one elevated railway from Madikeri directly to Vidhana Soudha? That would make it easy for ministers to spend their weekends in Kodagu. WHAT IS THEIR WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR MANDYA, MYSORE, BANGALORE IN 10 YEARS? With the current rate of growth and migration, there is going to be rioting in the streets of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is time the people of both states came together to fight such corruption. The media is unwisely focusing only on water sharing and not on protecting and growing the eco-system for more water. Why? Maybe they lack imagination, maybe they are being told what to do…who knows. This is the time they can make a difference to the Country if they are truly neutral and wish the people well.
Rail line doesn’t cause big ecological damage. Coorg people also will be benefited. No need to blindly oppose it
At present the Calicut, Cannanore, Thalsery are well connected to Mangalore, Hassan, Goa on to Mumbai. Propsal to link Kananghad with Kaniyur ( located between Kabaka Puttur & Subramanya Road Station of Hasan- Mangalore Broad gauge) via Panathur, Sullia limits has been sanctioned. With this link Hassan Railway junction will be a busy vital RS to handle cargo and passenger traffic and will be very convenient for inland & foreign tourists due to proximity of Belur/ Halebeedu / Shravanbelagola, Kukke Subramanya, Dharmasthala, MCF & Mysore. Roads connecting Thalasery with Virajpet & Gonikoppa via Iritty are being widened to take care of the passengers of International Airport at Mattanoor. Government of India Rail Ministry and Railway Board need to review the proposal in view of present scenario of endangered ecology of western ghat and the management of passengers and cargo with alternate modes of economic transport.