Strongly opposing the move by the State government to revoke the ban on cultivating eucalyptus, the National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) and Samaj Parivarthan Samudaya (SPS) have said that the move would threaten the fragile ecosystem.
Addressing presspersons in Dharwad on Tuesday, the president of NCPNR and SPS S.R. Hiremath said that both the organisations strongly opposed the State government’s move and would urge the urge the it to rescind the ill-advised move of revoking the ban on cultivating eucalyptus in order to attract investment to the paper industry.
Mr. Hiremath said that cultivating eucalyptus would have put in jeopardy the basic needs of the rural poor and also the landless farmers, Dalits and women in particular. Cultivation of Eucalyptus would also further add to climate change and threaten the fragile ecosystem of Mother Earth in general. The move would have a devastating impact on large section of the population especially the marginalised, he said.
He recalled that earlier attempts by the government to allow eucalyptus and other monoculture cultivation met with massive opposition from a broader section of society and subsequently led to successful legal fight against the move. Consequently it led to ban on cultivation of eucalyptus and other fast-growing species in Karnataka, he said.
NCPNR, SPS and other like-minded organisations would begin a determined campaign to mount pressure on the government to withdraw its move. Letters too would be written to the Chief Minister, Forest Minister and the chief secretary seeking immediate stop to going further on the issue of revoking the ban, he said.
Mr. Hiremath termed the recent Bilkis Banu case judgement on remission as landmark judgement. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel should immediately step down and apologise to the country for facilitating release of persons who were held guilty of committing most heinous crime, he said.
