The Forest Department had foreseen the repeated landslips being reported on Chamundi Hills and had advised the government against any major road widening or development projects.
Sources in the department said that a report was submitted to the government stating that the soil was barren and loose and could not withstand the pressure of infrastructure works and had warned of landslips.
An official said the government had proposed a four-lane road and it was turned down by the department on the grounds that it could not be sustained given the fragility of the place.
But subsequently, some portions of the roads were widened and other infrastructure works including a vehicle parking facility has been completed atop the hill. The vehicle parking facility atop the hills resulted in vast swathe of land being cleared of green cover while the pressure on the ecosystem from the unregulated movement of traffic carrying tourists and devotees has also increased, adding to the pressure on the fragile ecosystem
The prognosis that Chamundi Hill was prone to landslips came true when a portion of the road connecting to Nandi statue from the View Point junction caved in on October 20th. But the damage has been further aggravated since then due to the continuing rains and the length of the affected portion of the road has also increased in the interim period.
Officials from the PWD responsible for its maintenance said no repairs were taken up when the portion of the road caved in on October 20. However, the road was out of bounds for vehicles as the soil was soggy while the retaining wall too had collapsed and hence was fraught with danger.
Though experts have visited the site no measures were initiated and the authorities said they are waiting for the rains to subside. Elected representatives including Chamundeshwari MLA G.T.Deve Gowda, district in-charge Minister S.T.Somashekar and others had visited the spot soon after the first incident was reported.
However, the PWD officials aver that no civic work entailing the use of excavators or heavy earth moving equipment can be deployed at the spot in view of the continuing rains.
According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, Mysuru has received 19.8 mm of rainfall against a normal of 8.4 mm between November 1 and 3 which was 136 per cent above normal. The district has also received 304 mm of rainfall since October 1 against a normal of 153 mm and this was 99 per cent above normal for the same period.
Environmentalists in the city said no measures have been sounded even remotely to arrest the deteriorating ecology and forest conservation and the focus is on ‘development’.
