In a significant step towards expanding the green cover of Bengaluru city, the Karnataka government announced a new biodiversity park. To be set up on 154 acres of forest land in the Madappanahalli reserve forest near Yelahanka, close to Kempegowda International Airport, the biopark, once completed, is expected to become a major public space and tourist attraction in the city’s northern outskirts.
Announcing the initiative in early June, the state’s Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre said the park would be the city’s first large-scale green space after a century, since the creation of Cubbon Park in 1870. Expected to be Bengaluru’s third major park, after Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park, the forest land was recently reclaimed from the Karnataka Forest Development Corporation (KFDC). The land was formally handed back to the Forest Department in the minister’s presence during the announcement.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Meenakshi Negi informed Mongabay India that the project is still in its conceptual phase. “We are in the process of planning it and are actively seeking inputs from experts and the public,” she said. “The idea is to develop an interactive, accessible green space, something on the lines of Lalbagh.”
The site is currently dominated by eucalyptus, a non-native species that will be removed in line with the state ban on cultivating eucalyptus that has been effective since 2017. Native and Western Ghats-endemic species such as bilva, honne, banyan and peepal are expected to replace them. According to Khandre, the area already supports around 800 trees of native varieties.
The proposed features of the biopark include: Basaveshwara medicinal garden, Kempegowda mini-zoo, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar aviary, Indira Gandhi biopark, Saalumarada Thimmakka tree park, a butterfly park, a germplasm bank, a bamboo grove, an arboretum and some water features.
Negi informed that a detailed project report (DPR) was being prepared, incorporating public and expert input. According to Khandre, the park is expected to be completed within the next two to three years, with ₹20 crore sanctioned for the first phase of its development.
Banner image: Cubbon park. Representative image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
