Bengaluru: Fight for conserving Hesaraghatta grasslands continues

Bengaluru: Urban conservationist and biodiversity board member, Vijay Nishanth has requested Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to re-introduce the proposal for Hesaraghatta conservation reserve formation in the next Wildlife Board meeting.

"...as many of us in Bengaluru which is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and providing employment to people across the country are in desperate need for protection of another lung space that is Hesaraghatta," he mentioned in the letter to the CM.

Nishanth drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the fact that while Lalbagh and Turahalli provide respite to South and South West Bengaluru, the northern parts of the State capital which houses several MNCs is dry and parched as groundwater levels have gone down.

"For them, there is no respite from heat, heat island effects as also continuing air and water pollution. The one and only green space full of biodiversity is Hessarghatta in the form of both grasslands and wetlands.

And let this unique 5,000 acres be kept intact to protect Bengaluru – the state's pride and revenue, income generating centre," the letter stated.

Quoting scientific studies he attributed the Covid-19 pandemic to destruction of wildlife and its habitat and urged the CM to stop the same onslaught on Bengaluru.

"If engineers and other supporting staff have to work in a good environment and possess good health, they need such 'Green Spaces' as such spaces cannot be created by ordinary human beings. Further any theme park in such a natural grassland ecosystem will destroy the ecosystem," he said.

The move to convert Hesaragatta grasslands into a theme park in spite of strong opposition from environmentalists is reminiscent of the methods used to trample on the majority decision against the Hubbali-Ankola rail project.

Though the consensus was against the project, it was cleared by the State Wildlife Board. The Karnataka High Court even observed that this was a classic example where the ministers influenced the decision in favour of the project.

Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas Oka observed: "In a period of 11 days, how did the decision change. On March 9, there was a consensus for its rejection but the very next day on March 20, it was cleared. Though the ministers were not the members of the board they were allowed to address the meeting."

The 1912 acres of Hesaraghatta lakebed flanked by 356 acres grasslands is the last remaining grassland in Bengaluru. The government mulls building a film city here, a move derided by ecological experts.

In January, the Yediyurappa rejected the proposal of declaring Hesaraghatta grasslands as conservation reserve after Yelahanka MLA, S.R. Vishwanath opposed the idea.

In this regard, a member of the Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board, Tyag Uthapa said that the presence of the MLA in a board meeting for wildlife was not allowed and nobody was given a chance to speak.

"The CM had a sympathetic nod on his face after forcefully tried to put his point across that such a vast tract of land hardly 35 kms from Bangalore City should not be declared as conservation reserve as the farmers should likely be affected by it," he then told reporters.

A sitting duck?

A film city was proposed at the Hesaraghatta grasslands more than a decade ago drawing the ire of environmentalists. Former CM Siddaramaiah during his tenure (2013-2018) had proposed to set up a film city in Mysuru and later the coalition government of Congress-JD(S) chose Ramanagara for the porject.

In his budget speech on March 8, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa proposed establishment of a theme park on 100 acres in Hesaraghatta with private partnership to provide information and training with permanent exhibition and demonstration of native livestock, breeds of sheep / goats and poultry breeds. Conservationists have reported that the grasslands have become breeding grounds for rare birdlife like Greater Spotted Eagle, Lesser Florican (only a few hundreds left), etc. Apart from this, it is also home to Slender Loris, Smooth Coated Otter