<p>The Karnataka government’s proposal to set up the vulture sanctuary at Ramadevara Betta was at the centre of a recent inter-ministerial discussion on vulture conservation at the Union Environment Ministry on March 21. However, no decision was taken.<br /><br />Nearly 55 km from Bangalore, the location for the proposed sanctuary is the same rocky terrain on the Bangalore-Mysore road where the cult Bollywood movie Sholay was shot.<br />There is a small nesting population of 13-15 long-billed vulture on a cliff, which are breeding successfully. Karnataka government wants to develop this as a vulture sanctuary, which the conservationists don’t approve.<br /><br />“Instead of a sanctuary which brings resentment of local people, it is better to declare it a Conservation Reserve, involving local people,” Asad Rahmani, director of Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai, said.<br /><br />Villagers would be prohibited from entering the area once it is declared as a sanctuary.<br />“The nesting colony is disturbed by rock climbers and a resort is coming up at the foothills. This should stop. The rock climbers should have a separate area and no one should be allowed, not even photographers near the nests,” Rahmani told Deccan Herald.<br /><br />Karnataka government gave permission to a Bangalore-based hospitality firm to come up with a resort. The project, reportedly, has the backing of a powerful minister in the B S Yeddyruppa government.<br /><br />A legal battle over the project is going on in the Karnataka High Court on land ownership. The resort claimed it purchased 6.78 acres of land from a villager, who reportedly received it as a grant from the state government. The state forest department maintained that the area is forest land since 1917 and there is no question of any private ownership.<br /><br />Vulture conservation is one of the ambitious projects of the Centre government. The government had set up a vulture breeding centre in Pinjore, near Chandigarh where vultures would be bred in captivity and released in the wild after 10 years.</p>
<p>The Karnataka government’s proposal to set up the vulture sanctuary at Ramadevara Betta was at the centre of a recent inter-ministerial discussion on vulture conservation at the Union Environment Ministry on March 21. However, no decision was taken.<br /><br />Nearly 55 km from Bangalore, the location for the proposed sanctuary is the same rocky terrain on the Bangalore-Mysore road where the cult Bollywood movie Sholay was shot.<br />There is a small nesting population of 13-15 long-billed vulture on a cliff, which are breeding successfully. Karnataka government wants to develop this as a vulture sanctuary, which the conservationists don’t approve.<br /><br />“Instead of a sanctuary which brings resentment of local people, it is better to declare it a Conservation Reserve, involving local people,” Asad Rahmani, director of Bombay Natural History Society in Mumbai, said.<br /><br />Villagers would be prohibited from entering the area once it is declared as a sanctuary.<br />“The nesting colony is disturbed by rock climbers and a resort is coming up at the foothills. This should stop. The rock climbers should have a separate area and no one should be allowed, not even photographers near the nests,” Rahmani told Deccan Herald.<br /><br />Karnataka government gave permission to a Bangalore-based hospitality firm to come up with a resort. The project, reportedly, has the backing of a powerful minister in the B S Yeddyruppa government.<br /><br />A legal battle over the project is going on in the Karnataka High Court on land ownership. The resort claimed it purchased 6.78 acres of land from a villager, who reportedly received it as a grant from the state government. The state forest department maintained that the area is forest land since 1917 and there is no question of any private ownership.<br /><br />Vulture conservation is one of the ambitious projects of the Centre government. The government had set up a vulture breeding centre in Pinjore, near Chandigarh where vultures would be bred in captivity and released in the wild after 10 years.</p>
