Subject: KMTR road project being revived
I got the following rather alarming message from WII today. Apparently
there is a new effort to revive the project to put a highway through the
heart of Kalakad - Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR). This is an old
proposal and the road actually appears on many maps, including the Lonely
Planet atlas for India.
Rauf / Ravi Bhalla / others in Tamil Nadu: do you have any further info on
this?
I also wonder if these same ministers are back in-charge in the latest
iteration of the Indian government.
Madhu
-----------Forwarded message-----------
X-Sender: wii@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:17:20 +0500
To: mkatti@ucsd.edu
From: "WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA, DEHRADUN"
Mime-Version: 1.0
TO: Madhu Katti
mkatti@ucsd.edu
FROM: Ravi Chellam
DATE: 22 April
Dear Madhu, this is to establish contact with you and to check on how life
is treating you. I am also quoting from a newspaper report in The Hindu
which if true needs to be opposed vigorously. I am also trying to organise
opinion here in WII and elsewhere in the country to stall this disastrous
development project. The highway will fragment the last bit of contiguous
rain forest in the Western Ghats and also give increased access to all and
sundry thereby leading to greater disturbance and destruction.
-----------------------
The Hindu April 4th 1997 Chennai Edition
LAYING OF ROAD IN FOREST AREA: UNION MINISTER'S PLEA
The Union Labour Welfare Minister, Mr M Arunachalam, has urged the Union
Forest Minister to take steps to allocate adequate land in the reserve
forest area for laying a 11.3 km road in the Tamil Nadu border to create
transport facility between Papanasam and Thiruvananathapuram via Karayar.
In a communication to the Union Forest Minister, Mr Saifudeen Soz, Mr
Arunachalam pointed out that the Tamil Nadu government had a proposal to
lay a road from Papanasam in Tirunelveli - Kattabomman district to
Thiruvananathapuram. From the Karayar dam the Tamil Nadu border is 32 km
away. From Karayar dam to Kannikatti bungalow, situated about 20.7 km away,
there is a motorable road in which small vehicles such as jeep could go.
>From this spot, the Tamil Nadu border was just 11.3 km away and it is full
of dense forest. From the Kerala border there is a good road of 15 km to
reach Thiruvananathapuram. Mr Arunachalam pointed out that the Tamil Nadu
Forest Department had observed that the laying of a new road to a length of
11.3 km would in no way affect forest wealth and had already given
clearance for the same. The Tamil Nadu government has forwarded its
application seeking the allotment of adequate forest land for laying a road
to the Union Forest Ministry long ago and the project was pending for quite
some time.
-------------------
Madhu you know how to reach the message across by INTERNET. Spread the word
around. The best action that can be taken is some kind of a signature
campaign highlighting the value of these forests and the endangered status
of rain forest habitats and the fauna they contain especially in the
context of the Western Ghats.
Communications addressed to the Governor of Tamil Nadu and the Prime
Minister of India would be the ideal start. I have requested the
researchers to keep an eye on the situation and I will keep you updated as
I get more information. Best wishes, RAVI
----------End of forwarded message-------
Madhusudan Katti
Email: mkatti@ucsd.edu
Tel / FAX: 602-966-4829
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dreams and nightmares are made from the same materials. But this
particular nightmare purports to be the only dream we are allowed:
a development model that scorns life and adores things"
Dear Madhu, Ravi, and other nathistorians:
I would be happy to get signatures from colleagues here and in India for a
signature campaign against highway construction within KMTR. I also wanted to
suggest that since pictures are often worth a thousand words do you think it
would be a good idea to enclose 2 or 3 telling maps. The ones I have in mind
are:
1. A map highlighting the contiguity/fragmentation of the forests along with an
indication of "conservation value"
2. A map projected into the future showing the highway and how it would damage
the surrounding forests based on our data on relationship of forest loss with
proximity to roads in the Western Ghats and with proximity to encroachments and
plantations in the Agastyamalai region in particular?
I have base maps already that I could modify and do the projections on.
I think that there is need to enlighten people about what "damage to forest
wealth" really means.
Keep me posted.
Shaily
______________________________________________________________________________
Shaily Menon, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
Phone: (617) 287-6659
Fax: (617) 287-6650
menon@umbsky.cc.umb.edu
______________________________________________________________________________