Kumaraswamy's 1 day visit to Talacauvery, 100 trees axed to clear path

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy will visit Talacauvery, the source of Cauvery river, in Coorg district on Thursday. But, his visit has not gone down well with environmentalist and people in general.

In what could be called a 'blunder' by environmentalists, around 100 trees along Talacauvery-Bhagamandala stretch were axed to clear his path. An order passed by Deputy Commissioner Srividya P I's office instructed the forest department to clear the way marked for CM's visit by uprooting trees that are at a risk of falling.

According to Times Now, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srividya PI later clarified that her orders were misinterpreted. She said that she had ordered only for pruning of trees and that some trees were being axed to prevent any unfortunate incident.

As per a report in The New Indian Express, the district commissioner had issued an order to the forest department to chop off the trees present on the path marked for the CM's visit, along the Talacauvery-Bhagamandala stretch. Similarly, trees were felled on the Boikeri-Madikeri stretch.

This is the second visit to Talacauvery by Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister. In 2007, he had visited the place when he was CM in a coalition government with the BJP.

Only late JH Patel had visited the Talakavari when he was chief minister and offered special prayers.