Activists move Supreme Court over shrinkage of Bannerghatta buffer zone

Bengaluru: After commercial activities forced the Bannerghatta National Park’s (BNP) buffer zone to shrink by nearly 100 sqkm in the last six years, activists have approached the Supreme Court.

The BNP covers 260.51 sqkm on Bengaluru's southern border and is the terminal point of the Mysore Elephant Reserve. It hosts tigers, leopards, dhols, sloth bears and other animals.

In 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) issued a draft eco sensitive zone (ESZ) notification, providing a buffer of 100 metres to 4.5 km from the BNP boundary.

In May 2018, the state government reduced the maximum buffer to 1 km, cutting the area from 268.8 sqkm to 168.84 sqkm. This became the final ESZ in 2020.

Kiran Urs, a software engineer who analysed changes at the park’s edge using Google Earth historical imagery, said the northernmost part of the Bannerghatta National Park faces an existential threat due to errors in the ESZ boundary.

He said the reduced boundary excluded rocky outcrops, revenue lands and agricultural fields, exposing the park to wildlife threats, citing Ragihalli, Sollepuradoddi and Guddegowdanadoddi. "Resorts and commercial activities are mushrooming. Revenue and agricultural land are turning into new layouts, posing a direct threat to the BNP's wildlife," he said.

The proposed Satellite Township Ring Road (Phase II) through the BNP's narrowest section is seen as a setback.

"The National Highways Authority of India promises to build a flyover with sound barriers. However, a personal visit to a similar road in the Pench tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh showed sound barriers do not work," Urs said.

Speculative investment

Somashekhar T, a farmer from Kadujakkkanahalli, said the government is the biggest violator in the buffer zone. Since 2013, officials have tried to acquire land from unwilling villagers for the Suryanagar Layout by the Karnataka Housing Board.

"This area was part of the ESZ. They are developing Phase V by razing hillocks and removing greenery. Nobody built houses in previous phases, but new layouts continue," he said.

Somashekhar is fighting the government's move to acquire his 4 acres.

Shivakumar, another farmer, is trying to save his 18 acres from becoming a dry layout. "I want to remain a farmer rather than selling my land for a project that only fuels investments," he said.

Somashekhar said the Anekal belt was known as the ragi bowl. "Entire history is being wiped out," he said.

CEC site visit today

In May 2025, KB Belliappa and others filed a petition before the Supreme Court to highlight damage from the reduced buffer zone. Members of the Central Empowered Committee will visit the site on January 3 to assess the situation.