BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Bangalore Development Minister DK Shivakumar’s pet 250-metre-high SkyDeck project is unlikely to come up at Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus. The varsity has not responded to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP’s) requests for land to execute the project on the campus, and the city corporation has resumed its search at alternate locations for the project which aims to promote tourism and display the city’s modernity.
Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department and BBMP Administrator, Tushar Girinath, said: “Bangalore University has not replied to us. We are now shifting again to a different, suitable place.”
However, officials in the BBMP said University land at Jnanabharathi campus is ideal for the SkyDeck project as so much of government land is not easily available elsewhere.
The BBMP had penned multiple letters to the University and to the education department seeking 15 acres of land near Mysuru Road entrance of Jnanabharathi campus, and closer to the metro station, for the SkyDeck. Multiple models for executing the project were also suggested, including partnering with the University administration.
Besides the lack of response from University, the Jnanabharathi campus is now also in the news with Forest, Environment & Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre directing Karnataka Biodiversity Board to submit a detailed project report for declaring the University’s 660-acres green space of a total of 1,112 acres of the campus as a biodiversity heritage site, for better protection of the only existing lung space in Bengaluru West.
That leaves 452 acres of the campus outside of the planned biodiversity heritage site area, and 395 acres has been leased out to others including some educational institutions, besides 150 acres developed and used by BU.
Experts, however, insist that instead of shifting the SkyDeck elsewhere, it should be stalled altogether. Noted environmentalist AN Yellappa Reddy said, “Bengaluru does not need a SkyDeck. What is the government keen on showing, a concrete city with high-rises? How does it benefit Bengaluru?
The University campus should be well-protected and declared as a heritage site at the earliest. There are over seven lakh trees of 700 species and lakhs of sandalwood trees are also growing on the campus.”
Civic activist Kathyayini Chamaraj said they had heard a public consultation was done for the SkyDeck construction. But no one is aware. There are no details of it anywhere. As per Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, there should be a public consultation before executing any project, she said.
Experts said university lands cannot be used for non-academic purposes. There is also a recent Supreme Court hearing in the Telangana case. “SkyDeck is a commercial project and Jnanabharathi campus land should not be given away for this,” said former BU V-C, Dr AN Prabhu Deva.