GBA permits felling of 138 bushes at BUs Jnanabharathi campus; almost 2,000 objections obtained

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has granted permission to chop down 138 bushes, translocate 54, and retain 228 bushes on-site for the development of latest Academic and Research Blocks at Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus in Nagarabhavi. 

The order was issued by the Tree Officer and Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), GBA, on October 4 and the clearance follows an in depth area inspection and a number of rounds of technical analysis by the Tree Expert Committee (TEC), which assessed all 420 bushes standing on the proposed challenge web site, the order acknowledged. 

The Bangalore University had utilized for tree removing permission underneath the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) scheme to assemble state-of-the-art educational and analysis amenities. The new advanced will home 12 new undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programs in fields corresponding to STEM, Commerce–Law, and Fintech, benefiting round 1,600 college students and a pair of,000 lecturers working in 300 affiliated faculties. 

The college, established in 1964, acknowledged that the majority present buildings are over 40 years previous and lack house or structural power to assist enlargement. It argued that the brand new amenities are crucial to extend the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and strengthen increased schooling entry.

Nearly 2,000 objections

The Tree Officer, the order acknowledged, reported receiving 1,928 objections and recommendations from residents, environmentalists, and campus customers. 

Many objectors opposed the large-scale felling, warning that Jnanabharathi acts as a biodiversity hotspot and is considered one of Bengaluru’s final remaining inexperienced lungs. They cited the presence of over 160 species of birds, 170 species of butterflies, and quite a few bugs and crops on campus, warning that tree loss would result in habitat destruction and native ecological imbalance. 

Several objectors additionally questioned the authorized standing of the land, asking whether or not it was forest land and if due de-notification procedures had been adopted. Others referred to as for the preservation of heritage bushes and demanded that the challenge design be revised to combine present pure property.  

University stance

Responding to those objections, the college clarified that the land in Survey No. 6 of Nagarbhavi Village was handed over by the Forest Department in 1965 and de-notified in 1969 by a authorities notification. The Karnataka Biodiversity Board additionally confirmed that there is no such thing as a proposal to declare the Jnanabharathi campus a Biodiversity Heritage Site. 

The college maintained that no heritage or century-old bushes stand on the proposed web site and that it has planted 5 lakh saplings of over 300 species throughout the campus since 1998. Officials stated afforestation, bio-fencing, verify dams, and rainwater harvesting are ongoing measures to maintain the campus ecology.