Reg.: Representation urging you to cancel clearance extended by Karnataka Forest Department to Sanghamitra Foundation for carving Buddha Statue at Handigondi Rock in Handigondi State Forest

Dear Mr. Ray,

As you are already aware the Bangalore based foundation 'Sanghamitra Buddha Foundation', is planning on carving up the West face of Handigondi rock , 40 kms. South West of Bangalore, into a massive Buddha statue. Ostensibly the reason is to compensate the destruction of Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban. What is not revealed officially is that this is not the only statue to be carved out. Surrounding rocks will meet a similar fate as the project proposes carving out busts of Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar and other national figures and locating them in a setting that reflects a Buddhist retreat. But because this novelty may soon fade off public memory, and perhaps may not generate enough revenue, it is rumoured that the Foundation proposes to develop over 2000 acres of land around these rocks into a resort modeled on Sholay film landscape.
The range of Ramanagaram Hills, once referred to as Closepet Granites, are a younger set of coarse-grained potassic granites which form a chain of rounded bosses and domes running north-south, over a distance of 75 Km from south of Magadi till a little north of Kollegal and span over a width of nearly 25 Km from around Ramanagaram to the west of Kanakapura, represent a rock formations of great antiquity. These rocks formed during the Lower Proterozoic era, between 2600-2000 million years of geological history. These range of hills, unique to inland Karnataka, form one of the most picturesque features of the Indian landscape. They excel in grandeur and assume fantastic forms, form a part of the natural heritage of the state. Besides being a home to a large variety of flora and fauna, these hills together with their forest-covered slopes are of great ornithological importance.
But none of these factors have had any bearing on the clearance accorded to the project by the Karnataka Forest Department vide letter of Prinicipal Chief Conservator of Forests dated 29 November 2003 to Principal Secretary to Dept. of Forest, Ecology and Environment. Based on this clearance, the Principal Secretary has proceeded to grant in-principle clearance vide his letter dated 01 January 2004, No. FEE 60 FGL 2002.

In the proposal submitted by Sanghamitra Foundation, it is claimed that only one rock would be carved out into the Sanghamitra Buddha, that being Handigondi. As this falls within the Handigondi State Forest area, the proposal sought permission to divert about 10 acres of forest land to non-forest purpose. A slight problem was anticipated as it occurred to the Foundation that they would perhaps be encroaching, indeed violating, the Supreme Court decision against defacement of rocks, in light of many Coca Cola and Pepsi ads that were painted on rocks abutting highways in the Himalayan region.

Dismissing this concern, the District Forest Officer (Bangalore Rural) in his inspection report dated 06 November 2003 (No. A3-LND.CR.206/2002-03, stated that considering “it is carving a statue of international fame and away from highways and no paint is used for painting the rock… the guidelines regarding interference with the rock shall not apply to this case”. Clearly the officer did not consider dynamiting rocks, particularly within forest areas, a clear violation of the law and the Supreme Court’s view on the matter.

Unfortunately, in the process of review within the Forest Department, this travesty has gone unchecked. For instance your predecessor forwarded the proposal based on the premise that “there is no damage to the forest since tree cutting is not involved”. Further forwarding the proposal to the Ministry of Environment of Forests for final clearance, the Karnataka Principal Secretary of the Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment allowed the diversion of the forest land for carving the statue so long as “the legal status of the land shall continue to be forest land” and 10 acres of such land would be leased for a period of 15 years based on compensatory afforestation charges. Not one officer independently verified the project, beyond documentation submitted to them by the Foundation, and thus missed the big picture.

That the project is proposed over 2000 acres, not 10 acres for which permission was sought!

A glimpse at the Sanghamitra Buddha Foundation website (www.sanghamitrabuddha.com) would have revealed that “(T)he International Peace Center once complete will be the finest, comprised of the world's tallest statue of Buddha with an imposing height of 712 Ft, amidst 2000 acres of lush green scenic beauty and creative marvels.”

Handigondi is a unique landscape that must be conserved for all time:

The Handigondi rock at 1050 Ft., is the highest rock in the Savandurga range, easily visible from Bangalore, and an integral part of its landscape and lore. Any rock climber who has been initiated in this region, regards the scaling of the west face as an impressive achievement. And for no ordinary reason: the west face is almost completely vertical, thus trying muscle and mind against 2.5 billion years of weathering. For naturalists, this is a region that immediately needs to be protected from any disturbance as two highly threatened birds - the white backed vulture and the yellow throated bulbuls – are found here. Destroy the rock, and you will destroy the nesting grounds of the vulture.

To highlight the unique ecological and geological significance of this region, we have produced a note and the same is annexed for your perusal. Keeping this in view, we would urge you to immediately stay the clearances accorded, in light of the evidence we have annexed, which in the past has not formed basis for decisions taken, and thus take steps to reverse the decision and protect this region for posterity.

We urge you to take such action post haste as the Sanghamitra Buddha Foundation have been rather brisk in raising funds for the project, what with Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, et. al. performing to raise funds for the project in Bangalore end-April in a concert tastelessly titled TEMPTATION.

We are aware that the Foundation has fraudulently presented only a part of their overall project to avoid getting involved into details of verification involved in a Central Environmental Clearance. This in itself is basis for rejection, and should have been the case if proper verification was conducted in the first instance. That has not been the case, and strengthened by the in-principle clearance, the Foundation has attempted to conduct Bhoomi Pooja unsuccessfully twice this month.

It would be an unfortunate day if this unique forest and these rocks that have withstood the test of time and the ravages of the Earth’s evolution is sacrificed in your time. We thereby urge you to take immediate action to stay clearances granted and initiate steps to withdraw clearances in this regard. We will extend all assistance to you if you take this bold and legally correct stance.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Yours sincerely,

Leo F. Saldanha/Bhargavi S. Rao
Environment Support Group Deepak Arya
Karnataka Mountaineering Association K. H. Raju/Pavaman/Ajay Srihari
KINS Roc

Naveein O. C
Foundation for Nature Exploration and Environmental Conservation
Venkatesh M
Friends of Handigondi Rocks

Contact Address:

K. H. Raju on 9844093570
Or
Environment Support Group ®
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Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road,
Bangalore 560041. INDIA
Telefax: 91-80-26341977/26531339/26534364
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