Hundreds of trees felled without nod for road to waterfall

Kumbraal waterfall in Yellapur taluk, Uttara Kannada, comes alive during monsoon.

Hundreds of trees were felled in a hush-hush manner during the lockdown to build a road to Kumbraal waterfall in the protected area of the taluk. Dehalli Gram Panchayat carried out the tree felling and road work in the night despite the warning issued by the Forest department to not cut trees.

Many valuable trees like shisham and teak have been razed in the name of development. Trunks and tree debris on either side of the 1-km road are the telltale signs of indiscriminate felling of trees. Some trees were buried underneath the road while a few dumped in the backwaters of Kali river.

There are many waterfalls in the Yellapur forest. The entire forest will vanish if the authorities start laying roads to the falls, said locals.

A three-feet mud road was enough for trekking. Also, the waterfall dries up in summer and comes alive only during the monsoon. It is unfortunate that about 500 full-grown trees were felled for the road that was not needed, said Manjunath Menasumane, former president of Gram Aranya Samithi.

Without permission

Meanwhile, Range Forest Officer Balasubramanya has alleged that the GP authorities had felled trees for a road without taking due permission from the Forest department.

“We had warned the GP authorities a month back when they started the road work. We had stopped the work then by placing thorny shrubs on the stretch. But they resumed work during the lockdown and laid a road overnight,” the RFO told DH.

When contacted, Dehalli GP president Shripati Muddepal said there’s no need for the Forest department’s permission for the road works in GP limits.

A trekking trail is being developed to have a proper access to the waterfall. Only five to six trees were felled, the GP president said.