NEW DELHI:”The responsibility of evicting the encroachers from the Raja Seat area, the historic garden in Madikeri, Kodagu district, lies with the State Government and not the Centre,” said Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni.
She was replying to a query in the Lok Sabha by MP Vijay Mallya recently.
“With the objective of developing tourism in Kodagu district, the Centre had granted Rs. 483.07 lakh during Nov. 2003, which was utilised for a children’s park in Raja Seat, amenities for the general public and landscaping. “Repair of Madikeri Fort and illumination and renovation of Gaddige (the tombs of Lingayat rulers) have also been taken up,” Soni said and added that the Jungle Lodges and Resorts, Bangalore and Archaeological Survey of India, have been chosen as the implementing agencies.
Mallya wanted to know whether it was true that the State Government gave only Rs. 5,000 per annum for the maintenance of Raja Seat that extends to 18.55 acres.
He also wanted to know whether 1.10 acres of Government land belonging to Raja Seat was encroached upon by 32 families and houses erected on them. “Can the Centre take measures to evict the encroachers?” he asked.
“Does the Centre have any proposal to develop Kodagu district as a tourism centre, it being the birth place of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and Gen. K.S. Thimayya?” Mallya asked.
