SHIMOGA: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh expressed surprise over state government's objection to accord World Heritage tag to 10 natural sites in the Western Ghats. In a letter to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday, he was at loss to understand why all of a sudden only Karnataka is expressing objections, that too in a language that is "unbecoming of a responsible government". He wished somebody from the state government had spoken to him before rushing to the media. He would have patiently explained the position to Karnataka. Karnataka has been needlessly alarmist, he said.
Terming the decision "hasty", he said it would lead to international embarrassment. He advised the government to allow the Centre to go ahead. He stated that the process of inscription of the Western Ghats as a World Heritage sites started six years ago when the then representative of Karnataka government attended a meeting of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2005. At every stage, the governments of Karnataka, Maharastra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been fully involved. The background work has been coordinated by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, an institution of the ministry.
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