Chikkamagaluru: Bhadra Wildlife Conservation Trust’s D. V. Girish, Former State Wildlife Board Member S. Girijashankar and Wild Cat-Sina Sreedev alleged that Basur is a historical grassland. It is due to the negligence of the departments that are supposed to protect it that civil works on lakes and roads are increasing in this grassland, even though it is not much needed.
Amrit Mahal Kaval is not an ordinary grassland and has a history of 400 years. From the Vijayanagara kings to the Mysore kings, Amruth Mahal, grassland is a special breed conservation area and is heaven for cows and wild animals. It is still home to those species and many special types of wild animals. In order to conserve and develop the Amrit Mahal breeds, this grassland should be preserved without being used for any other activities, the activists said.
Basoor Kaval, which is spread over an area of 1820 acres in the District in the form of Kawal, has a huge catch of blackbucks, wolf and jackals and very rare bird species along with Amrit Mahal breeds. These grasslands are also rainwater absorbers of the plains and there is a court order not to use it for any other purpose, they informed.
In the past, the grassland was encroached upon by many and was cleared as per a court order. The Government has also recognised the importance of this grassland and declared it as a ‘community protected area’. Ironically, the number of 16 lakes in Kaval has now gone up to 18 after the Animal Husbandry Department and Forest Department personnel, who were supposed to protect it without the Court and the government’s instructions, recently constructed two more lakes using concrete in excess of the requirement of the grassland. This kind of construction is destroying the very nature of the grassland, which is changing the landscape of the area where the sandy soil of the land flourishes, they noted.
Though the court has ordered that no agricultural activity or civil works should be carried out in this grassland, this year too, the court’s order has been ignored allowing the cultivation of groundnut, a plain crop. Both the departments have not taken the necessary steps to protect the area and the construction of unnecessary roads, the use of machines to grow grass has been destroyed and the habitat of birds that lay their eggs in the grass has also been affected, they alleged.
They demanded that the heads of both these departments should immediately stop all these works which are affecting the basic condition of the Basur kaval and stop the move to convert it into agricultural land permanently. There is also a risk that some animals, including the blackbuck, inside this grassland may lead to human-animal conflict in the near future if it is not maintained scientifically, they rued.
