BANNERGHATTA (BENGALURU RURAL DIST): The mention of Bannerghatta brings forth visions of family picnics and wildlife, but the sad truth lies in how a burgeoning Bengaluru, on the fringes of which Bannerghatta is located in its south, has got adversely affected due to the city’s unregulated growth.
One of the most important habitats for elephants, leopards and other wildlife, the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) forest reserve is now under pressure from all the sides. While the ever-growing concrete jungle from Bengaluru is threatening the crucial forests from the north, relentless quarrying along the edges of the reserve to feed the city’s demand is posing a similar threat from its other sides.
Although the dangers of urbanisation consuming the forests in the years to come is real, efforts are also afoot to ensure that the forest cover is not only preserved but its area grows. But how effective these efforts will be in stemming the reserve’s rot, only time would tell.Speaking to The New Indian Express, Thimmarayappa, a resident of Ragihalli, marvelled at how the city seemed to approach the forest region year after year. “If you consider Bannerghatta town, it was a small village with around 50-100 houses about two-three decades ago. Now, the town has more than 2,000 houses and is almost an extension of Bengaluru,” he said.
Explaining how the growth of the city led to the rapid increase in quarrying around Bannerghatta, he said several hills disappeared over the past few years to meet Bengaluru’s demand for construction material.
Vishnumayananda Swami of Ramakrishna Mutt, who heads a conservation effort in Shivanahalli, detailed how the green cover has decreased in the city over the years.
“The city ended at Jayanagar, that too with a few houses. About twenty years ago, vegetable fields and mango orchards were present in the modern day J P Nagar. Most of the regions outside the city were covered with green cover or shrub forests,” he said.
Noted environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy said there is a direct relationship between the external stress faced by BNP and the growth of Bengaluru city. “In order to feed the city’s growth, quarrying, M-sand units and others were set up around the national park. Due to the availability of granite around the park, granite industry has also seen a boom, especially in Jigani,” he said.Since the 1960’s, the city has grown in an ‘all-consuming’ manner every decade. Today, not only
Bengaluru and BNP, residents living in towns closer to the city are also suffering the consequences, he said.To a question regarding quarries around the Park, he said there have been directives from the High Court to shut the ones which were located in its buffer zone.
Local efforts to increase forest cover
Considering that the forest cover in and around BNP has taken a beating due to the needs of Bengaluru, several efforts are afoot to increase the green cover. Among them is a project by Swami Vishnumayananda of Ramakrishna Mutt, who decided to transform revenue land in Shivanahalli into a forest. He told TNIE that the project was started 25 years ago. Plants and different varieties of trees were grown in the land surrounding the Ashram, he said. Apart from indigenous trees, four water holes were also constructed for the benefit of animals and birds. “People are using similar techniques in different parts of Western Ghats in Karnataka and Kerala to increase the green cover,” he said.
