BENGALURU: The biodiversity park at the Jnanabharathi Campus of Bangalore University (BU) is under threat as parts of the park are set to be demolished for building an academic block for University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), the state’s first autonomus institute on IIT model.
Now, an online campaign has been launched against construction activity in the area. UVCE is set to claim 52 acres of land which is under BU. “Acres of land are being given to to multiple institutions and agencies, disrupting the biodiversity park and we have always protested against it and now history is repeating,” said TJ Renuka Prasad, an environmentalist who was part of building the bio park.
Home to a variety of flora and fauna, environmentalists refer to it as the “lungs” of Bengalureans. “We have planted around 30 acres with the Western Ghats species. It’s a reserve of many sandalwood trees. There are 175 species of birds and demolishing such a space will have a huge impact to the ecology of Bengaluru,” said Prasad.
“It’s more than just a park. It’s a heritage property which cannot be lent to random institutions.” He has also launched an online campaign against the project, which has garnered support from over 15,500 individuals.
“This is a biodiversity hotspot beyond Lalbagh or any other parks in the city. We are not against development, but it should not be at the cost of the survival of the city and the citizens,” said D Paramesha Naik, an environmental science professor at BU.
“There are so much barren land at Devanahalli and Chikkaballapur. Instead of razing these 52 acres of bio park, let them choose to take double the area in such places and create a bio-park similar to Jnanabharathi Bio Park. That’s how development should take place,” he said.
He added: “This is a matter which needs to be taken up by the state government and reworked with public interest.”
However, UVCE officials said they are only following the government’s order. “This is a space given to us for education by the government and we are just following it,” said an official.