In order to prevent soil erosion, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the forest department, filled the percolation pits and planted fruit saplings and grass on Gajagiri hills in Talacauvery, as per the directions issued by the district administration.
Bhagamandala RFO Devaraju H G and DRFO Manjunath Nayak said that the saplings of a variety of fruit-bearing trees such as guava and jamun, which are naturally found on Brahmagiri hills and vetiver grass have been planted on Gajagiri hills. Also, bamboo seeds have been sown.
In the aftermath of massive landslides on Gajagiri hills in Talacauvery last year, a committee comprising the Kodagu deputy commissioner and the higher officials of the forest department conducted a meeting and decided to fill the percolation pits which were dug between 2015 and 2017.
Under the guidance of DCF S Prabhakaran and ACF Dayananda, the officials carried out the work of filling the percolation pits on Wednesday. About 800 pits were filled with the help of the labourers, said the officials.
As a precautionary measure, the NDRF team which is stationed in the district visited the residential areas in Talacauvery, Bhagamandala and Cherangala which are in dangerous zones.