Ramanath Rai challenges govt to scrap Kasturirangan report

Mangaluru: Former Minister and KPCC Vice President Ramanath Rai challenged the government to scrap the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Rai said that instead of misguiding people by saying that the state government is opposed to the Kasturirangan report, the government should scrap it. Despite fierce opposition to the implementation of the recommendations of the report, it has still not been canceled, he said.

The Kasturirangan Committee was formed to study the recommendations made in Gadgil’s report on the Western Ghats following opposition to its ‘harsh’ recommendations by people living on the forest edge. Rai said, “The central government had issued a draft of the Kasturirangan report and invited objections to it.”

Further, he said “The BJP, which was in the opposition at that time, had made a huge issue out of it. Later, four or five draft notifications were published.”

“I was the Forest Minister in the state at the time. The BJP had accused the then government of pushing the people onto the streets by implementing the Kasturirangan report’s recommendations. They (BJP) had said the report submitted by the state government, in this case, was not correct. Finally, our (Congress) government wrote to the Union government requesting it not to implement the Kasturirangan report,” he said.

Yettinahole “hypocrisy” 

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had taken out a yatra vehemently protesting the Yettinahole project when it was announced. He is now claiming credit for implementing the project. He claims that he himself held meetings in Hassan, and Kolar for the project, Rai said.

Rai criticized the “Hypocrisy” of the BJP when the elections are nearing. “I have never done hypocrisy politics,” he added.