Western Ghats wil be protected: CM

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 4: Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today stressed the need for protecting the Western Ghats, considered one of the major hot spots of bio-diversity in the world.

Inaugurating a conference of Forest Ministers of Southern States here, he said rivers originating from mountains of the Western and Eastern Ghats nourished the land in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. They sustained life and economy.

Mr Achuthanandan said ''We can never survive without these rivers and these rivers cannot survive without rich vegetation of forests.'' Pointing out that borders were problem areas and anti-social elements like 'ganja' and 'sandalwood mafia', poachers and smugglers took advantage of weakness of the state machinery, he said the threat should be checked jointly through an inter-state coordinated approach at the ground level.

The Chief Minister said ''we should put in hard work to restore the forest and tree cover in all ecologically sensitive areas for safeguarding our present and future interests.'' Karnataka Forest Minister C Chennigappa in his keynote address emphasised the need for joint action in fields related with forestry and wildlife including research, development, border protection and sharing experiences in management of forests and wildlife.

Pointing out that without active support of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Centre, increasing red sanders smuggling in the state could not be contained, Andhra Pradesh Forest Minister Satrucharla Vijayarama Raju suggested holding of regular inter-state border meetings with officials of these states at least once in a quarter.

UNI