Tumakuru's Environment & Heritage Issues

Road widening inside Devarayana Durga state forest is taking place without any concern for the trees and the natural environment. On June 21, three WANCers- Ameen Ahmed, Mallikarjun and Guru Prasad observed and noted the following: 1). The road from 5th mile stone (8th km stone) to Durgadahalli cross beyond Namadachelume, which is currently about 10 - 12 feet wide, is being widened to about 35 - 40 feet i.e. till the cattle prevention trenches on either side of the road that were dug during M.N.Narayanaswamy DCF's period. 2) A JCB has been used to widen this entire 6 km stretch. 3) Almost all the scrub forest trees and small trees have been uprooted/felled along this stretch for this purpose. On this page are a couple of these pictures. 4) All the big and mature trees that could not be removed by the JCB have been marked by machets ( "macchu" as we call in Kannada) / sharp instruments. These big trees are intended to be removed for the road widening process. We hav...

The area around Chinnagaradevara Betta is one of the most beautiful in the whole of Devarayana Durga state forest. In addition, this area is probably the least disturbed of all the areas of this reserve forest. WANCer Ameen Ahmed who first visited this patch of forest in 1990 and WANCer Guru Prasad who has been frequenting this patch since mid-90s, fondly remember this area and often compare the vegetation to that of Bandipur and Mudumalai sanctuaries' undulating terrains. A small foot path / track used to cut through the forest and connect the villages of Swandenahalli and Durgadahalli, a distance of 8 kilometres. Vehicles though, still have to take a circutous route for more than 15 kilometres to reach the other side of the forest. A couple of kilometres off the track between Swandenahalli and Durgadahalli lies a temple dedicated to lord Rangaswamy, popularly known as Chinnaga Rangaswamy temple. Devotees from Swandenahalli and nearby villages visit this temple within ...

There are a few roads that pass through the boundaries of Devarayana Durga State Forest. Among these are 1) Tumkur City - Oordigere Road 2) The above road deviates at 8th mile stone and goes to Namadachelume 3) The road from Namadachelume leads to Durgadahalli 4) The road from Namadachelume also branches into one that leads to Devarayana Durga village 5) Just before Devarayana Durga village a road that branches from Oordigere - Koratagere Road and cuts into the forest, meets the road Namadachelume - Devarayana Durga road. All these roads cause considerable disturbance. In 2002 there WANC participated in a campaign to stop the destruction of prime yellothroated bulbul habitat due to the expansion of the road leading to Devarayana Durga village. The following are some details from 2001: Dear Nature Lovers, The latest situation on ground is that the work has come to a halt inthe forest area. Noises though, are being made to resume it in the r...