Bengaluru: Signature campaign demands Hesaraghatta grasslands to be declared conservation reserve

President of the NGO Project Vruksha Foundation, Vijay Nishanth, who started the signature campaign, said, “Hesaraghatta, the last remaining grassland of Bengaluru, is the water catchment area of the Arkavathy river, housing about 250 species of birds, insects and mammals.”

He added that there is an attempt to incite the locals against the demand of declaring the grasslands as a conservation reserve.

“The villagers are being fed falsehoods by local politicians like one cannot graze their cattle once the area is declared a conservation reserve. Some have even said that once it is declared a reserve forest, wild animals will be put there. The sad thing is that not a single MP (member of parliament) from Bengaluru has uttered a word on the issue,” Nishanth added.

He said the signatures will be submitted to principal chief conservator of forest (head of forest force) R K Singh before the wildlife meeting.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) has started an online petition on its page requesting the chief minister to declare the Hesaraghatta grasslands a conservation reserve.

Acting on a petition filed by Nishanth, the Karnataka high court in July directed the state government to reconsider its earlier decision of rejecting the proposal of declaring Hesaraghatta grasslands as a conservation reserve in 2021.