Kudremukha

Kudremukh is a mountain in Chikmagalur district, in Karnataka, India. The name literally means 'horse-face' and refers to one picturesque view of a side of the mountain.

The name also refers to the small town near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala and about 20 kilometers from Kalsa. It is primarily an iron ore mining town where the government run Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) operates. It is noted for its scenic beauty, located in midst of mountains. Built on lines of colonial towns this place is worth a visit. Owning to the dense forests, sighting wildlife can be challenging, though the area is rich in wildlife. Nonetheless the drive through the forest ranges can be enchanting and exhilarating. Three important rivers, the Tunga, the Bhadra and the Nethravathi are said to have their origin here. A shrine of goddess Bhagavathi and a Varaha image, 1.8 m within a cave are the main attractions.

Location

The Kudremukh National Park (latitudinal range 13°01'00" to 13°29'17" N, longitudinal range 75°00'55' to 75°25'00" E) is the largest declared Wildlife Protected Area (600 km²) of a tropical wet evergreen type of forest in the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats is one of the twenty-five hot spots identified for bio-diversity conservation in the world. Kudremukh National Park comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed jointly by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA.

Geography

The park is adjoining to Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary on the western side and is linked to Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary through a narrow stretch of Reserved Forests on the southern edge. The southern & western sides of the Park form the steep slope of the Western Ghat ridge line, with the altitude varying from 100 m - 1892 m (peak). The northern, central and the eastern portions of the park form a chain of rolling hills with a mosaic of natural grassland and shola forest. Kudremukh receives an average annual rainfall of 7000 mm, which has evolved forest types of mainly evergreen or semi-evergreen climax forests in the region.

History

The British Government declared Kudremukh region as a Reserved Forest in 1916, to stop rampant slash and burn cultivation practices from penetrating deeper into the Ghats. Well known environmentalist and Tiger expert Dr. Ullas Karanth, undertook a detailed and systematic survey of the distribution of the endangered Lion Tailed Macaque in Karnataka during 1983-84 with support from Government of Karnataka. He observed that suitable and extensive rainforest habitat for Lion-tailed Macaque existed in Kudremukh and that the tract probably harbored the largest contiguous population of lion tailed macaques in the Western Ghats outside the Malabar region. He further suggested that Lion Tailed Macaques could be effectively used as a 'flagship' species to conserve the entire biotic community in the region and prepared a conservation plan for survival of wild population of Lion Tailed Macaques in the region delineating the present national park area as a proposed nature reserve. Based on his report, the Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board suggested to the Government that Kudremukh National Park be created. Subsequently, the first notification of the Kudremukh National Park was issued. In 1987, the Government of Karnataka declared these Reserved Forests as a National Park based on the above suggestion.

Ecology

A diverse assemblage of endangered large mammals is found in the park supporting three large mammal predator species Tiger, Leopard and Wild Dogs. The important Tiger prey base found within the Park is Gaur, Sambar, Wild Pig, Muntjac, Chevrotain, Bonnet Macaque, Common Langur and the Lion Tailed Macaque. Kudremukh receives an average annual rainfall of 7,000 mm. The wet climate and the tremendous water retentive capacity of the shola grasslands and forests has led to the formation of thousands of perennial streams in the region converging to form three major rivers of the region, Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi that form an important lifeline for the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Threats

KIOCL Plant at Kudremukh Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) is a government run company which mines iron ore from the Kudremukh hills. KIOCL has been conducting its operations on an area of 4,604.55 ha for over 20 years. Opposition to its activities has built up over the years from environmentalists and wildlife conservationists who are concerned about the threat to the region's flora and fauna, and farmers who are affected by the pollution of the streams that originate in the mining area. The rainfall in Kudremukh, which is perhaps one of the highest for any open cast mining operation in the world, greatly accentuates the impacts of siltation. The topographic and rainfall characteristics in combination with the open cast mining of low grade iron ore and other land-surface disturbances caused by the KIOCL operations results in very high sediment discharge, with over 60% of the total siltation in the Bhadra system being contributed by the mining area which forms less than six per cent of the catchment. Over 1000 square kilometres of agricultural land would have been in peril if this sensitive area had not been protected from the ravages of mining at the very source of the Bhadra.

Map of Kudremukh

Image taken in 2003

Taken while trekking.

External links

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