The earth’s slipping, save our Chamundi: Eco-activists

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Mysuru: Enlightened citizens of Mysuru have  launched an online campaign  against a new proposal submitted by the tourism department to spend Rs 100  crore under PRASAD ( Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and  Spiritual Augmentation  Drive) for the further development of Chamundi Hills,  a rich bio-diversity hotspot in the city.

This campaign had been  launched by Mysureans  and is titled ‘Saving Mysuru’ in the wake of three  landslides atop Chamundi  Hills indicating the lurking  danger in case more developmental activities are undertaken for the convenience of devotees. The  landslides that occurred  between Chamundi Temple  Road and Nandi Monolithic  Statue Road in a gap of 15  days have led to grave concern among environmentalists in general and Mysureans in particular as it has  happened for the first time.  Already, the beauty of Chamundi Hills had been  spoiled in the name of providing basic facilities to visiting devotees and by spending crores of rupees for  this. The government has  also constructed a big parking lot, a mass feeding hall  and a big residential colony  atop the hill.

Besides, the land in the  foothills had been allotted  for various purposes by the  Gram Panchayat without  realising its implications.  A l l ow i n g u n ch e cke d  growth will deliver a deadly  blow to the very existence  of Chamundi Hill.

Bhamy V. Shenoy of  Mysurean for Saving Mysuru, says, “the earlier proposal submitted by the state  government under the  PRASADA scheme was rejected by the Centre. Unfortunately we do not know  what is in the new draft. My  efforts to reach the tourist  department did not succeed. With your support, we  should be able to get 300,000  signatures which should influence our elected leaders  to accept the recommendations that Mysore Grahakara Parishat has been  making since four years”.

He said that even as they  work on the petition, some  people are thinking of constructing more buildings  with some politicians even  coming up with the grandiose idea of improving tourism and promoting development of the hill. ‘’What we  need to do is stop all construction, start removing  illegal buildings (if Mumbai and Kerala can demolish high-rise buildings to  comply with laws, we  should be able to do it in  Mysuru) and stop movement of vehicles which affect the environment. Only  EV buses should be allowed. But if we want to  save Chamundi, we need  dramatic steps. We should  transfer panchayat authority to the district authority  as soon as possible. Second,  we should have Chamundi  Hills Development Authority to restore it to its earlier  state when man lived in  harmony with nature and  make the hill a spiritual  centre’’, he added.