Times News NetworkMandya: The state government’s plan for a Cauvery statue and a Disneyland-like amusement park in Brindavan gardens have drawn flak from farmers in and around KRS dam . Farmers say the proposal is a bid by the real estate mafia to grab fertile land from them even as the government insists that it will not acquire any land for the project.“The project will put the KRS dam in a danger. I will not allow it,” former MP D Madegowda told farmers at a meeting on Sunday, held under the banner Save Cauvery and Save KRS. “First, they must stop mining activities in the KRS dam region.” He said he would lead the protests if the governmet persisted with its plan.Villagers of Hongalli, Majjigepura and surrounding villages said they would not allow the district administration to acquire land for the proposed project. “The entire region is deprived of basic facilities. But now the state government wants to acquire land. They are saying no private land is required for the proposed project but it is a lie. The government will acquire prime land and hand it over to the real estate mafia in the name of tourism development,” said a villager wished to be unnamed.“When Congress was in power, the officers and the politicians were afraid of a people’s movement. But this government is not taking our views into consideration. They will force us to leave our land,” he said.An officer from the state water resources department said the idea was ill-conceived. “To install the Cauvery statue, we need to carry out blasts at the construction site. It will put the KRS dam in danger. There is no clarity who wants this project,” he said.Kuraburu Shanthakumar, president of the state sugarcane farmers association, said he is also against the proposed project: “This government has no money to implement any scheme. From where will it bring money for this Disneyland ?”P Raju, former vice president of KRS grama panchayat, dismissed the opposition to the project. “The state government has made it clear that no land will be acquired for the project. Instead it will come up in the revenue land, cow grazing land etc. Even after such an assurance there is no meaning in holding a protest,” he said. “If tourism is improved, our youths will get jobs. The quality of life will improve. We need to keep all this in mind.”Tourism minister SR Mahesh said there was no questions of a rethink. “Those who are opposing the project didn’t come for talks with us to know more about the project. They are opposing it for opposition sake. We will continue with the proposed development project,” he said.Travel industry wants Disneyland but not at KRSThe Mysuru Travels Association (MTA) welcomed the Disneyland proposal but not at KRS and the fertile land that surrounds it. BS Prashanth, president of the association, said the body was in favour of adding to the infrastructure around KRS. “However, converting KRS into Disneyland would take out the value that KRS has to offer, which is a pillar of contribution by the royal family of Mysuru. It is our duty and the government’s to preserve KRS and that’s the direction the proposals must be focused on,” he said. “However, if Disneyland is developed at another location, that doesn’t require snatching land from farmers and killing the ecological balance, it will draw more tourists and can be marketed as an additional tourist destination.”

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