Bangalore: The State government has decided not to sign any agreement with regard to the inclusion of Western Ghats in the World Heritage site list. A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting held at the CM’s home office Krishna on Wednesday. It was also decided to write to the Centre to reconsider the decision.

Forest  Minister CP Yogeshwar who attended the meeting said the World heritage Tag will hamper development activities in the region while giving a boost to Naxal activities.

He also said the World Heritage Tag will prevent the government from taking up any development project in the region He further pointed out that Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra which had large area under Western Ghats had opposed the UNESCO move from the beginning.

Opposing the Centre’s unilateral decision to support the World Heritage tag to Western Ghats, Yogeshwar said compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh per family was inadequate to rehabilitate people in the forest areas as land costs were prohibitively high in the region.