Chamarajanagara: The farmers living near the buffer zone forests of the Bandipur tiger reserve are facing problems due to illegal stone mining by some influential people of the district.
The farmers are facing threat from the wild animals on one side and the stone miners on the other. The farmers are unable to conduct their daily farming activities due to the regular plying of the JCB and the tippers around. The stone pieces flying around from the quarry during the explosions, land on the farms has jeopardised the farmers’ life.
The stone mining has been going on uninterrupted near Hasaguli village in Gundlupete Taluk in the buffer region of the tiger reserve.
Two years ago, the farmers had protested against mining in the surroundings and it was stopped.
The contractors then encroached upon the nearby forest land and started illegal mining using megger machines to explode the granite boulders.
Scared by the explosions, wild animals like tigers, cheetah, wolf and peacocks started moving towards the villages. This has made it convenient for the poachers to kill peacocks. The villagers have now, requested the forest department to stop the illegal stone mining.
The villagers had also approached the DC and submitted their request to cancel the licence given for stone mining.
