A group of farmers and environmentalists from Kodagu under the aegis of a coordination committee took out a rally to the Kerala-Karnataka border on Saturday in protest against the proposed national highway and rail projects connecting Mysuru and Kannur.
They claimed that the projects passing through Kodagu district of Karnataka would affect the plantations there.
The vehicle rally covering 35 km was organised as a part of the Save Kodagu and Cauvery campaign launched by as many as 30 organisations in Kodagu district.
Inaugurating the rally, Colonel C.P. Muthanna, convener of the coordination committee, said Kodagu was known for its microclimate and rainfall but the drastic decline in rainfall recently affected the climate and crops of the region, a major coffee and pepper growing area in Karnataka.
Many open wells and borewells in the region had started to dry up owing to dearth of rainfall. However, the Kerala government had initiated proposals to construct two multicrore projects, including the Thalassery-Mysuru national highway to link the Kannur airport and the Mysuru-Thalassery railway, passing through Kodagu, Mr. Muthanna said.
It was feared that such constructions would destroy the climate of the region as the project would be possible only after massive felling of trees.
More than 54,000 trees were cut down recently for drawing a 400-kV high tension power line through Kodagu to Kerala, which depleted rainfall leading to high temperature in the region, he added. Kodagu is the major catchment area of the Cauvery river and decline in rain would adversely affect the State.
The protesters also called upon the Kerala government to stop destruction of nature in the name of development. Close to 2,000 farmers and environmentalists in the region took part in the rally.