BENGALURU: A letter by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar recently demanding that the reduced eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) at Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) be notified at the earliest, has irked activists and farmers alike. Activists and farmers held a meeting on Monday and decided to shoot out letters to the state and Central governments, as well as decision-makers, to look at the Supreme Court order not to reduce the ESZ from 268.96 sq Km to 168.84 sq Km.
At the meeting, some shocking revelations were made that many farmers themselves did not want the modified ESZ. Farmers said many land grabbers had illegally occupied their lands and they were putting pressure on the government to get their property legalised. They termed it as another form of Akrama Sakrama in the guise of ESZ notification.
Vijay Nishanth, an activist, who also participated in the meeting said that a letter will be submitted to the governments and to all decision-makers to have a relook, failing which, the legal route will be taken. Farmers who participated in the meeting said that at least 80 percent of them wanted to be in the green zone limit as in this way their land will get saved form encroachments. They demanded that the government hear them out instead of real estate agents who will only effect Bengaluru’s cerebral climate.
They said that this will effect the cropping pattern which will also have an adverse effect on Bengalureans as most of the food is supplied from places around BNP.
Activists are against the blanket reduction of ESZ from 100 metres to 1 km around BNP as seen in the map. Instead, the government should follow the June 2016 notification. They also alleged that the government wants to keep realtors, miners and multi-nationals happy.