No heritage tag for 10 sites, Karnataka writes to Centre

Sticking to its decision to oppose Unesco’s World Heritage Site tag for 10 sites in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, the state government on Friday sent a letter to the Union about this decision.

On Tuesday, a committee headed by forest minister CH Vijayashankar took the decision to oppose the Union government’s recommendation of declaring 10 sites in the Western Ghats in the state as world heritage sites by Unesco. The decision was first communicated to chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who was in Kerala at the time. He too endorsed the decision, and by Friday, the state made its position known in a note to the Union.

In its letter, the state government reiterated that it was quite capable of protecting the Western Ghats. We will not yield to pressure, and we are not ready to accept the proposal to declare the 10 sites heritage sites. If the tag is attached to sites in the Western Ghats in the state, development work cannot be undertaken in some parts of the Western Ghats, and the interests of forest dwellers will suffer, the state explained.

The decision of the state government, however, has met much cynicism. Environmentalists contend that the government might be paving the way to the exploitation of the region. The Unesco tag was recommended for 39 sites, only 10 of which fall in Karnataka. Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Goa, where the other sites are located, have not opposed the move.