Mysuru: The Codava National Council (CNC), citing catastrophic landslides in Kodagu, demanded that Coorg/Codava land should be brought under national and international disaster bracket and the Government of India, the United Nations and Government of Karnataka should join hands for a rehabilitation mission on a war footing. It also urged the government to render Harangi reservoir defunct, which they alleged was the main reason for the landslide.
N U Nachappa Codava, President, Codava National Council, said, “The recent landslides in the region have caused irreparable damage and misery to the people. Hence the annual public Kailpod scheduled for September 1 at Madikeri will be observed as a mourning day instead of a jubilant celebration. In that gathering, we will resolve to insist the GoI, GoK and the UN to do the necessary rehabilitation arrangements in a war footing manner.”
“With Rs 30,000 Crore, the rehabilitation programme for the landslide affected should be carried out immediately, alternate arrangements for the displaced refugees should be made at the very same place that they belong. The water Colossus Harangi Reservoir, a ‘live atom bomb’, the root cause of these entire catastrophic landslides in Coorg/Codava land, should be dismantled with immediate effect before another disaster occurs. Otherwise, the whole rehabilitation programme will be futile as the ongoing seepage from the Harangi reservoir will not allow the earth to revitalise.
“One scientific proof is that wherever there is a reservoir, earth tremors will be followed by landslides in the surrounding regions making the entire human habitation impossible and jeopardising it. Such incidents have happened in Chile on December 17, 2017. Wherever there are reservoirs and dams in hilly terrains, disaster is a natural result in the long run”, added Nachappa.
