Karnataka cabinet declares Hesaraghatta grassland a reserve, makes U-turn on first marine sanctuary
The Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve in Yelahanka consists of around 350 acres of the last remaining grassland near Bengaluru, three large lakes and land under the veterinary and animal sciences department.
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The Hesaraghatta grassland consists of around 350 acres of the last remaining grassland near the city. (Express Photo)The Karnataka cabinet declared the Hesaraghatta grassland as a conservation reserve on Thursday. The Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve at Yelahanka in Bengaluru Urban district will span 5,678 acres and 32 guntas, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
The reserve consists of around 350 acres of the last remaining grassland near the city, three large lakes and land under the control of the veterinary and animal sciences department. Though the proposal to declare the biodiverse region as a reserve was first made in 2013, a decision on it was delayed by successive governments.
The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah approved the proposal to declare it a reserve on on October 7, 2024, after a decade-long delay, which had also prompted environmentalists and locals to launch a legal battle to conserve the grassland ecosystem.
In another development, Patil’s office issued a statement saying the cabinet had deferred a decision made to clear a proposal for the state’s first marine sanctuary. This came minutes after the minister announced that the cabinet had cleared the proposal for the marine sanctuary.
The proposed Apsarakonda-Mugali Marine Sanctuary—near Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district—will cover around 14,000 acres, consist of mangrove forest and be home to several endangered species found in the coastal regions of the state.
According to a statement from Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s office, the decision was deferred owing to technical reasons.
However, there are speculations attributing the deferral to the fact that the proposal was first cleared in 2020 by the SBWL headed by then chief minister B S Yediyurappa but has been kept pending by the cabinet since. The Congress government has sought the proposal to be placed before the SBWL again so that it can claim all credit for declaring the state’s first marine reserve, according to sources.
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