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Green cover equivalent to around 700 football fields was reduced in Bengaluru over the past few years, shows data provided by Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre in the Legislative Assembly Thursday.
Khandre said that the extent of green cover that was reduced was around 500 hectare. He said that such reduction in green cover, fragmentation of forests due to projects such as the Peripheral Ring Road and unscientific disposal of solid waste near forest areas has increased man-animal conflict in parts of the state capital.
He was responding to a question by BJP MLA M Satish Reddy about the recent leopard attacks in the suburbs of Bengaluru.
Khandre said 2,871 acre of land is still encroached while encroachments have been cleared from 403 acre of land.
“The Forest Department has filed 623 cases under Section 64(A) of The Karnataka Forest Act for unauthorised possession of reserve forest and other forest lands in Bengaluru,” Khandre said, adding that the Supreme Court has issued a stay on 18 cases.
The total designated forest area in Bengaluru is around 8,900 acre, which has reduced due to rapid urbanisation.
“To mitigate instances of man-animal conflict, six anti-depredation camps have come up in the Bengaluru Urban division of the Forest department. Of the six, three each are in the Kaggalipura and Anekal zones,” Khandre said.
The minister added, “A leopard task force has also been formed to capture the big cats when they are spotted near residential areas.”
During a discussion, Reddy said tranquilisers used by the Forest department officials had not worked properly during an operation to capture a leopard near Singasandra in November.
Another BJP MLA from Bengaluru, M Krishnappa said that the disposal of chicken and mutton waste around the Bannerghatta National Park is increasing the frequency of leopard sightings in the region.
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