<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka High Court’s restraint on further tree-felling in Bengaluru University’s Jnanabharathi campus is a timely intervention in a controversy triggered by the proposed PM-USHA and other projects under which permission was sought to cut or translocate hundreds of trees to build new academic blocks. Acting on a PIL filed by Swayam Jagruti Trust and social activist Parvathi Sriram, the court prohibited the cutting of any more trees until the next hearing on December 9, amid accusations that felling continued even after the earlier interim stay. When the Jnanabharathi campus, spread across over 1,100 acres, was established in 1973 under Vice-Chancellor H Narasimhaiah as the postgraduate centre of Bangalore University, it was envisioned as a space for higher learning — quiet, green, and intellectually stimulating. However, that vision has steadily eroded. The campus has transformed into an ‘education hub’, hosting a growing number of institutions, each demanding its own land. While expanding access to education is important, the fact that this is one of Bengaluru’s last major lung spaces has been consistently overlooked. There is no need to squeeze every new educational project into Bengaluru when neighbouring districts and the rest of Karnataka offer ample land at far less ecological strain. The capital need not be the only address for academic ambition.</p>.GBA issues new proposal to remove 352 trees from Bengaluru's Jnanabharathi campus.<p class="bodytext">While encroachments have further eaten into the campus, recently, there was even a proposal by the state government to build a skydeck on 25 acres, abandoned only after public outrage. This unplanned expansion has come at a high ecological cost. Jnanabharathi is home to over 300 species of trees, rich birdlife, and several designated ecological zones. Its Bio-Park, part of an old forest, covers around 650 acres and functions as a critical carbon sink and groundwater recharge system. Environmentalists estimate that it replenishes billions of litres of groundwater every monsoon and absorbs pollution worth several thousand crores in ecological value. Once destroyed, such an ecosystem cannot be recreated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jnanabharathi must retain its original purpose: a dedicated post-graduate campus and a centre for knowledge. Equally important, the State must act on Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s recommendation and grant Jnanabharathi permanent legal protection as a biodiversity heritage site. A specific law on the lines of the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act is urgently needed to permanently protect it from fragmentation, encroachment, and alienation of land for other purposes. Jnanabharathi should not become yet another lesson of a city that destroyed its natural heritage in the name of progress. It must be safeguarded — now, and for generations to come.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Karnataka High Court’s restraint on further tree-felling in Bengaluru University’s Jnanabharathi campus is a timely intervention in a controversy triggered by the proposed PM-USHA and other projects under which permission was sought to cut or translocate hundreds of trees to build new academic blocks. Acting on a PIL filed by Swayam Jagruti Trust and social activist Parvathi Sriram, the court prohibited the cutting of any more trees until the next hearing on December 9, amid accusations that felling continued even after the earlier interim stay. When the Jnanabharathi campus, spread across over 1,100 acres, was established in 1973 under Vice-Chancellor H Narasimhaiah as the postgraduate centre of Bangalore University, it was envisioned as a space for higher learning — quiet, green, and intellectually stimulating. However, that vision has steadily eroded. The campus has transformed into an ‘education hub’, hosting a growing number of institutions, each demanding its own land. While expanding access to education is important, the fact that this is one of Bengaluru’s last major lung spaces has been consistently overlooked. There is no need to squeeze every new educational project into Bengaluru when neighbouring districts and the rest of Karnataka offer ample land at far less ecological strain. The capital need not be the only address for academic ambition.</p>.GBA issues new proposal to remove 352 trees from Bengaluru's Jnanabharathi campus.<p class="bodytext">While encroachments have further eaten into the campus, recently, there was even a proposal by the state government to build a skydeck on 25 acres, abandoned only after public outrage. This unplanned expansion has come at a high ecological cost. Jnanabharathi is home to over 300 species of trees, rich birdlife, and several designated ecological zones. Its Bio-Park, part of an old forest, covers around 650 acres and functions as a critical carbon sink and groundwater recharge system. Environmentalists estimate that it replenishes billions of litres of groundwater every monsoon and absorbs pollution worth several thousand crores in ecological value. Once destroyed, such an ecosystem cannot be recreated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jnanabharathi must retain its original purpose: a dedicated post-graduate campus and a centre for knowledge. Equally important, the State must act on Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s recommendation and grant Jnanabharathi permanent legal protection as a biodiversity heritage site. A specific law on the lines of the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act is urgently needed to permanently protect it from fragmentation, encroachment, and alienation of land for other purposes. Jnanabharathi should not become yet another lesson of a city that destroyed its natural heritage in the name of progress. It must be safeguarded — now, and for generations to come.</p>
