Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology Eshwar Khandre said on Tuesday that he has ordered officials concerned to set up checkposts at all four road entrances of Kukke Subrahmanya to prevent people from carrying single-use plastic to the temple town.

Speaking to presspersons at Kukke Subrahmanya, the Minister said that when he visited the temple town on the day he saw plastic bottles, bags, plates, etc. lying on the side of the roads. He immediately held a meeting of the officials and instructed them to set up checkposts and conduct a two-stage inspection to prevent dumping of banned plastic bags on the road side and in the Kumaradhara.

The Minister said that criminal case should be booked against those who discharged waste directly to the Kumaradhara in the temple town. Local bodies should monitor this, inspect wastewater treatment plants, and warn anyone who has dumped untreated waste into the river first. If the same mistake is repeated, a criminal case should be filed, he said.

Human-animal conflict

The Minister said that human life is precious and not a single life should be lost, and forest officials have been told to take action in this regard. State-of-the-art equipment including drones are being used to monitor the movement of wildlife.

He said that the Forest Department has been instructed to install solar-powered wire fences, dig huge trenches in fringe areas of forest to avoid human-wildlife conflict.

The Minister said since lakhs of people visit the temple town, the department has been instructed to install traps in such areas where leopard menace is high.

To a question, he said that Cabinet expansion is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. “I will not answer speculative questions,” he said.

Meanwhile, MLA for Sullia Bhagirathi Murulya met Mr. Kharge in the town and submitted a letter with a list of demands.