Conclusion

Spatio-temporal patterns of land-uses in the study regions of the proposed railway corridors i.e., Mysore-Kushalnagar and Mysore-Thalassery show that built-up areas would increase with the reduction of agriculture areas and natural vegetation. Built-up area has increased from 8% (2010) to 14% (2019), which is predicted to increase to 22% (2026) with the decrease in agriculture and forested areas, along the Mysore Kushalnagar corridor. Similarly, along the Myosre Thalassery railway corridor, built-up areas have increased from 7% to 12% and are expected to increase to 19%. Visualisation of land uses show major urban agglomeration at Mysore and Kushalnagar, while cities such as Hunsur, Ponnampere, Gonikoppa, and Kutta (Hamlet) show escalating of built-up areas, which could be associated with the railway networks and proposed railway stations. The spatial distribution of flora and fauna indicates that human activities (built-up/agriculture/horticulture) have intruded into animal movement/forage paths hampering their survival. Human activities would further extend to the animal territories disturbing their habitats, foraging grounds, thereby leading to higher instances of frequent human-animal conflicts and mortalities with railway connectivity implementation.

The proposed infrastructure activities through the ecologically fragile Western Ghats (and surroundings) would fragment the ecosystem that would lead to resource (food, wood, water, fodder etc.) scarcity, invasion of animal habitats, loss of biodiversity (flora and fauna). Further alteration in land use would impact the hydrological regime, with escalations in extreme scenarios (floods and droughts). Hence, conservation and sustainable management of ecologically fragile regions are essential. It is prudent to maintain intergeneration equity by maintaining Western Ghats landscape integrity without any major developmental projects, including the proposed linear projects.