BENGALURU: The standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife has given its nod to Indian Institute of Mangament-Bengaluru (IIMB) for its proposed campus expansion.
The IIMB had sought clearance as the proposal extended on to the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).
The Karnataka State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) in its last meeting held in April 2026 had given in-principle approval for the project and referred the file to the National Board for Wildlife NBWL. Any proposal for land up to 20,000 square metres and above in the ESZ, requires the NBWL’s clearance.
“The file was sent to the NBWL and it has been cleared with conditions. However, this does not mean the project proposal can be executed. It requires ESZ and forest department clearances,” a senior forest department official said.
At the SBWL meeting, the forest department had set a series of conditions, including keeping the campus green, ensuring as less green cover loss as possible and no hindrance to wildlife in the vicinity. The forest department had also decided to take the services of the IIMB in undertaking a capacity building assessment for the department, which will help them in physical upgradation, the official said.
Experts working with the department have expressed their concern over the clearance given to the project. They said that the report by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has been ignored, which suggested increasing of the ESZ of BNP to 5 sqkm, thus making the total area of 1768.4 sqkms. This was suggested in wake of rising conflicts, pressure on wildlife patches and urbanisation around the forest patch.
