Karnataka: Wildlife board meeting to discuss Hesaraghatta grasslands in November first week

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

“Yes, Bengaluru has an ecologically valuable grassland located in Yelahanka constituency, the Hesaraghatta grasslands, the last remaining grassland of the city. Rapidly increasing demands of urbanisation and unplanned expansion of city peripheries have caused enough imbalance in Bengaluru’s ecology. Talk to the native Bengalureans and they would tell you how year after year they witnessed the cityscape transforming into an unrecognisable blob of filth. Between 1973 and 2017, Bengaluru’s green cover dropped from 70.22 per cent to 2.11 per cent. Several trees were felled, lakes encroached upon and many indigenous flora and fauna displaced. The Hesaraghatta grasslands need to be protected. After all the damage humankind has caused to the environment, this is the least one can do,” the petition to the chief minister said.

The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) meeting, earlier scheduled on September 5, was to decide the fate of the Hesaraghatta grasslands. However, the meeting was cancelled since Bommai had to visit flood-affected areas.

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