While the coalition government in the State is keen on developing the Brindavan Gardens on the lines of Disneyland in the U.S., various stakeholders in the district have opposed it and have expressed concern about the safety of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir owing to rampant stone extraction activities.
They are questioning the need to refurbish the Brindavan Gardens at a cost of ₹1,200 crore, while the focus should be on safety of the dam and the concerns of the farmers in the region.
The government should impose a blanket ban on rampant stone extraction at different places in Pandavapura taluk as the haphazard stone blasting has been causing threats to the safety of KRS, Shambhunahalli Suresh, district president, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), told The Hindu here on Saturday.
“The proposed project is an attempt to divert the attention of the farmers to safeguard the interests of those indulging in illegal stone extraction,” said Rameshgowda, president, Karnataka Janapara Vedike. He said the government was conspiring to nourish illegal stone extraction activities.
Instead, the government should focus on developing the district, revive the government-run sugar mills, repair the canals supplying water for crops, and fix support/remunerative price for agricultural produce, he told presspersons.
‘Ban quarrying’
A meeting of members of various groups, which was held at the Gandhi Bhavan here, underlined the need to ban stone extraction activities in a 20-km radius of the KRS.
A data analysis from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), recently, had revealed that quarry blasting signatures were recorded near the reservoir, H.V. Vasu said at the meeting.
According to KRRS leader A.L. Kempoogowda, around 48 registered stone extraction units have been operating in the 20-km radius of the reservoir, apart from a good number of illegal quarrying units.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took out a motorcycle rally from Srirangapatna to Mandya on Saturday and urged the State government to ban all kinds of extraction in the reservoir’s vicinity.