Kodagu: The National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) has permitted the construction of the bridge across the Kootuhole River at Makutta, on the Kodagu-Kerala border.
According to authorities in the state forest department, the new bridge will require less than one hectare of forest land and will serve as a key link between the two states. Locals say that the bridge has been a long-pending demand of the people of Karnataka and Kerala and hope that the project is completed soon, TOI reports.
The report also adds that sources say that the bridge work was halted after the state department had raised objections. The Kerala government has proposed a new bridge across the Kootuhole River, part of the work to upgrade the Kannur to Kootuhole road, at an estimated cost of Rs 16 crores.
Meanwhile, the NBWL also gave the geotechnical survey its approval to take up the highly controversial Sharavathi pumped storage power plant project. This has come as a major shock to the people of the Malnad region as it was opposed by environmental activists who fear that it may lead to an ecological disaster.
The activists are upset with the NBWL for not helping the cause of the public, forests and the wildlife with regard to this project.
