Karnataka High Court orders status quo on Hesaraghatta Grasslands

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State government to ensure that the present status of Hesaraghatta Grasslands is not altered in any manner. The court also observed that the board meeting was not conducted as per law.

The interim order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Givindaraj on the PIL filed by conservationist Vijay Nishanth.

"The case is still pending. The respondents -- State Wildlife Board and the Animal Husbandry department -- are yet to come on record. Due to Covid they requested for the reissuing of summons and the Additional Advocate General has said that he will file objections to the petitions. Moreover, the court also observed that the Animal Husbandry department in 2012 wrote to the State government stating that the Hesaraghatta Grasslands should not have any public developmental activity as it is a very sensitive zone and it will have ecological imbalance in future," said advocate Nikhil Rakshith who has appeared for the petitioner.

Nishanth said that the government should have first discussed the issue and then reached a conclusion. "How can a politician influence the discussion? If we do away with grasslands now the consequences will be huge. A large section of the people who keep environmental issues at heart are certainly against the project," he said.

Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa rejected the proposal for declaring the Hesaraghatta Grasslands as a conservation reserve after Yelahanka MLA, S.R. Vishwanath opposed the idea.

In this regard, a member of the Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board, Tyag Uthapa shot a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden. Sharing the letter, Uthapa told The Hans India that the presence of the MLA at the board meeting for wildlife was not allowed and nobody was given a chance to speak.

"The CM had a sympathetic nod on his face after forcefully trying to put his point across that such a vast tract of land hardly 35 kms from Bangalore City should not be declared as conservation reserve as the farmers should likely be affected by it," he said.

Naturalists & wildlife enthusiasts all over the State have reported that Hesaraghatta Grasslands have become breeding grounds for such rare birdlife ass Greater Spotted Eagle, Lesser Florican (only a few hundreds left). Apart from this, it is also home to Slender Loris, Smooth Coated Otter, and Indian leopard," the letter read.

The 1912 acres of Hesaraghatta lakebed flanked by 356 acres Hesaraghatta Grasslands is the last remaining grassland in Bengaluru.