Kasturirangan report could force Uttara Kannada families to migrate to Goa: Karnataka Assembly Deputy Speaker

Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Mankal Vaidya on Tuesday said the people of Uttara Kannada had made enormous sacrifices for development projects in the district and would be forced to migrate to neighbouring Goa if the State failed to protect their interests in dealing with the Kasturirangan report.

Mr. Vaidya, who represents the Bhatkal Assembly constituency, said more than half of the district’s 14 lakh population lived in the Western Ghats region and could be affected if the report was implemented in its present form.

Participating in the debate in the Assembly on the report’s implications for livelihoods, he said the people had given up large tracts of land for several major projects, including the Konkan Railway, Seabird naval base, Kaiga Nuclear Power Station, five hydel projects and national highways. Nearly 21,000 acres had been acquired for the Seabird project alone, he said.