Bannerghatta park’s eco-shield cut down by 100 square kilometres

Large parts of villages where mining is occurring have been left out of the modified ESZ notification

November 09, 2018 11:37 pm | Updated November 10, 2018 07:12 am IST

Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).

Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).

The protective layer around Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) has become smaller after a new draft notification further trimmed down the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the park to just 169 sq.km. In effect, the reduction in the ESZ, which regulates and prohibits certain activities that may destroy the forest, may open up more areas in the vicinity for mining and commercial development around the rapidly-urbanising Bengaluru city.

On November 5, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) had issued a new draft notification for BNP, nearly 2.5 years after the first draft notification had declared an ESZ of 268.96 sq.km. In the latest notification, the ESZ was reduced to 168.84 sq.km.

In the 24th meeting of the MOEF’s Expert Committee in February 2017, the State government had requested for reduction of ESZ to 181.57 sq. km. Officials said the move was necessitated by political pressure to reduce the ESZ distance to 100 metres from the boundary of the park.

The ESZ includes 77 villages while the national park has 17 hamlets (enclosures) within. The notification will kick into effect around December 30, and citizens can use the time in between to file objections.

 

Mining and real estate?

A look at the new notification shows that the ESZ has been trimmed primarily in areas towards Kanakapura and Bengaluru in the northern part of the 260.51 sq.km. protected area. If the original draft notification had planned an ESZ of between 100m and 4.5km from the forest boundary, the new on restricts this to between 100m and 1km.

If the original draft had seen 61 villages come entirely under ESZ, the new notification covers them only till 1km from the boundary, freeing the rest of the village for “development”. Among these villages are Kebbehalli and Thammanayakahalli where granite and stone mining take place. In these two villages alone, 14.63 sq.km. of ESZ has been cut.

“Areas where ESZ has been cut down drastically are either being mined or are prospective mining areas. The other sector that will benefit from the cutting down of ESZ is real estate as land has now been freed from environmental constraints along highways close to BNP,” said an activist.

Sanjay Gubbi, wildlife biologist who was part of the team that drafted the original ESZ area, said that it was important to have an ESZ that can cushion Bannerghatta, which is a hotbed of human-elephant conflict, with “sufficient space”.

“Unfortunately, it is also adjoining Bengaluru city. We could learn from places like Nairobi in Kenya that also has elephants, lions, leopards and other large mammals at the edge of the city, but these animals are well-protected from urbanisation,” he said.

Gokul R., Chief Conservator of Forests (Bengaluru), said ground realities had seen the reshaping of ESZ around Bannerghatta. “If one were to take the minimum of 1km distance from the park, large urban areas and highways will come under the ESZ. It becomes unrealistic to impose restrictions on construction in these areas. Instead, we’ve chosen to include only those areas where ESZ norms can be implemented,” he said.

He added that changes in the ESZ could be incorporated based on the objections received from citizens. Objections or suggestions can be mailed to esz-mef@nic.in.

After the first notification in 2016, there were no public comments or objections. However, the National Tiger conservation Authority had suggested the inclusion of 17 revenue enclosures within the ESZ.

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