R S Tejus:
Karnataka PCCF and Head of Forest Force has recommended in-principal Stage-I approval on September 10, 2026 for the widening of NH-73 falling in the landslide prone Charmadi Ghat of the eco-fragile central Western Ghats.
The proposed widening of NH-73 which meanders through the Charmadi Ghat needs diversion of 15.6617 hectares of Reserve Forest and felling of at least 7,540 trees.
The present forest-diversion proposal covering about 11.2 kms from Charmadi village in Dakshina Kannada to the Chikkamagaluru district boundary is part of the central Western Ghats.
DETAILED REPRESENTATION
Wildlife conservationist Vivek M, who first raised objections to the project in June, submitted a detailed representation again on September 17. He has asked the state government to review the eco-disastrous NH-73 widening proposal before it moves further. “Improving road safety on the Charmadi Ghat is a legitimate public interest,” he wrote, while questioning whether the proposed solution is necessary and proportionate to its ecological cost.
What stands along the road?
The proposed diversion falls in the Charmadi-Kanapady Reserve Forest, an important part of the Western Ghats landscape.
The Forest Department’s Site Inspection Report clearly describes:
- Deep valleys, streams and old-growth trees, and records regular movement of wild elephants.
- The area forms part of the Nethravathi river catchment and is linked to the Kudremukh-Pushpagiri tiger corridor.
- Scientific records also document lion-tailed macaques in the Charmadi Hills.
- Charmadi-Kanapady forests is an important area for Nilgiri Marten.
FELLING OF 7,540 TREES
The number of trees proposed for felling which is 7,540 is therefore, only one part of the picture. The tree species, their girth and size are very important in understanding what will actually be lost in this part of the Western Ghats.
The central Western Ghats support several large evergreen and semi-evergreen forest trees, including Hopea parviflora, Vateria indica, Dipterocarpus indicus and Tetrameles nudiflora.
NEED FOR SPECIES-WISE COUNTING
An Indian Institute of Science (IISc) field manual lists Tetrameles nudiflora among the trees of the central Western Ghats, while IISc’s tree database records the species from Dakshina Kannada. It is a large forest tree recognised by its strongly buttressed trunk.
The available project documents, however, do not establish that Tetrameles is among the trees marked for felling at Charmadi. A species-wise enumeration of the 7,540 trees would give a clearer picture of the composition and size of the forest being affected.
LOSS OF EVERGREEN FORESTS
Mature evergreen forests are also important carbon stores. Research from the Western Ghats has found that evergreen forests hold higher tree-carbon stocks than the other forest types studied, with large trees making a major contribution. Carbon is stored not only in the trunks and branches but also in the roots, dead wood, litter and soil.
This does not mean carbon figures from another Western Ghats forest can simply be applied to Charmadi. A site-specific estimate would require measurements from the diversion area. But removing mature trees means losing carbon that has accumulated over decades and reducing the forest’s continuing capacity to take up carbon. Tree cover also helps regulate moisture, protect soil and maintain the conditions on which streams and forest life depend.
WHAT ABOUT WILDLIFE CONCERNS?
The wildlife issue comes from the project records themselves. According to Vivek’s representation, the DCF, Mangaluru Division, recorded that “the road passes through a tiger-corridor landscape, that elephants regularly traverse the area” and that mitigation measures are required for their movement. The report also called for a detailed Wildlife Mitigation Plan from the user agency.
Vivek says, “No such detailed plan had been submitted and wildlife clearance had not been initiated when the forest-diversion proposal was recommended for Stage-I approval.”
SITE-SPECIFIC MITIGATION PLAN
The matter had been raised earlier. His June representation sought a site-specific mitigation plan based on traffic, animal movement, roadkill risk, conflict locations and habitat connectivity, along with wildlife clearance and consideration by the Kudremukh National Park Eco-Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee.
Widening an existing road does not create a new corridor through the forest, but it can enlarge an existing break. A broader road, together with increased traffic and speed, can make movement between the two sides more difficult for wildlife.
A GHAT ALREADY PRONE TO LANDSLIDES
Charmadi’s geology is another major concern. The Geological Survey of India study cited in the representation recorded 45 landslides linked to road-construction cutting along the studied stretch and recommended avoiding vertical cut slopes.
National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping also identifies significant portions of the NH-73 Charmadi stretch as landslide-prone. Vivek’s representation says these findings were not addressed in the project records reviewed by him.
HIGH-RAINFALL TERRAIN
For a road-widening project in steep, high-rainfall terrain, this makes the engineering details important: how much hill cutting is proposed, how the exposed slopes will be stabilised, how drainage will be handled and where excavated material will be disposed of.
The representation also points out that the count of 7,540 trees does not include any additional forest damage that may occur from dumping soil and construction debris in adjoining areas.
This is another widening project in an already fragmented landscape of Western Ghats.
Charmadi also needs to be viewed in the wider context of Karnataka’s Western Ghats.
NH-73 already runs through the forest. The present question is about expanding the footprint of an existing linear intrusion in a landscape that has already been crossed by roads, railway lines, transmission corridors, dams and other infrastructure.
Research on Karnataka’s Western Ghats has documented this pressure for decades.
IISc studies have already identified dams, transmission lines, railways and other infrastructure among the major pressures on these forests in the Western Ghats. Research from Kodagu has also shown how expansion of roads and power lines can fragment forests and reduce core habitat.
HIGH IMPACT OF LINEAR STRUCTURES
This matters because the impact of linear infrastructure is not limited to the land physically occupied by a road. Forests get divided into smaller patches, animal movement can become more difficult, and new edges are created inside what was once more continuous habitat.
A Wildlife Institute of India study on wet evergreen forests in the Western Ghats notes that roads, railways and reservoirs have contributed to both forest loss and fragmentation.
The current Charmadi proposal covers 11.2 km but there is something more.
Vivek’s note says that further widening towards Mudigere could involve additional packages, forest diversion and tree loss.
That does not establish that the project has been deliberately split to avoid scrutiny.
It does, however, raise a relevant question: if the road is to be widened further, should the cumulative forest loss, hill cutting and wildlife impact of the entire stretch be examined together rather than only package by package?
Compensatory Afforestation & Alternatives
Questions have also been raised over the compensatory-afforestation proposal. The land identified at Gangoor village in Bhadravathi taluk already has a recorded canopy density of 0.5, according to documents cited in Vivek’s representation.
The proposed work includes fencing and management of existing woody vegetation. He has questioned whether this provides an ecological gain comparable to the loss of mature evergreen forest at Charmadi.
At the Charmadi diversion site itself, the DCF report records canopy density as 0.1. The representation has asked that this figure be independently checked against the Working Plan and actual field conditions before forest valuation is finalised.
RE-CHECK THE REQUIREMENTS
Vivek has also asked authorities to examine whether the entire 15.66 hectares is required. His representation suggests looking at targeted improvements at difficult curves, traffic-management measures, optimisation of the existing road section and alternatives for heavy goods traffic before further forest diversion is accepted as unavoidable.
Charmadi also brings attention to a larger conservation issue in Karnataka’s Western Ghats. Ecologically important forests do not end at the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
FORESTS OUTSIDE PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
Large tracts of reserve forest remain outside the formal Protected Area network and are managed by territorial forest divisions. Even within the Western Ghats UNESCO World Heritage property, about 40 per cent lies outside the formal Protected Area network, largely in Reserve Forests.
One option for Karnataka is to identify the most important of these last remaining evergreen forests, wildlife corridors and other high-value habitats and examine, where appropriate, whether stronger protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is warranted.
Forests outside existing Protected Areas can still hold some of the Western Ghats’ most valuable habitat, and decisions taken in these territorial forests can determine whether the larger landscape remains connected.
(PHOTO CREDIT: ALL IMAGES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED BY VIVEK M)