Madikeri: Reacting to the construction of the Railway building at Stone Hill in Madikeri, Col. Cheppudira P. Muthanna, President, Coorg Wildlife Society, who is spearheading a movement to stall the Rail projects, told Star of Mysore this morning that it was an unfortunate development.

“MP Pratap Simha must use his influence to stall the construction. He is our sole representative in New Delhi and he must exert pressure on Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to stop the construction as Kodagu does not need a Railway Line,” he said.  He added that Kodagu District Minister M.R. Seetharam had promised that Railway lines will not be allowed into the district.

“Pratap Simha has been promising us that if at all a Railway Line comes to Kodagu, it will be up to Kushalnagar only. But I wonder why an Office is being built at Madikeri when the Railway Line will stop at Kushalnagar. I feel that the people of Kodagu are being fooled and the governments have made up their mind to implement both the projects — Thalassery-Mysuru via South Kodagu and Hunsur-Periyapatna-Kushalnagar-Madikeri-Mangaluru Line,” Col. Muthanna said.

Expressing anguish, he questioned how the Kodagu District Administration can sanction land for a project that is bound to destroy the district’s ecology. “We demand that the construction must be stopped immediately. Unfortunately, our elected representatives at the Centre and State are not taking us into confidence but thrusting unwanted projects down our throats,” he regretted.