Green Minute News:
The opposition to Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s ambitious Bidadi AI Township project mounts in the last one week with nearly 12,000 people expressing their anger and dismay against such an unsustainable project. The proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) which is commonly known as the Bidadi AI Township project involves diversion of 9,600 acres of rich, fertile lands in Bengaluru South (earlier known as Ramanagara) and felling of 7-8 lakh mature and native tree species.
Cutting across party lines and various sections of the society, farmers have expressed their complete opposition to GBIT and Bidadi AI Township project and have said, “We are opposed to this project lock, stock and barrel as it will destroy our livelihood, our environment and invasion of city people into our environs. How can this government claim to be saviours of farmers when they are ready to destroy nearly 10,000 acres of fertile and productive lands, fell 7-8 lakh coconut, arecanut, mango, other fruit and timber trees and kill the dairy industry by asking us to send our 60,000 cows to butcher shops.”
Lamenting their fate at the hands of an inconsiderate and indifferent state government, the farmers of the 26 villages of the two-gram panchayats of Byramangala and Kanchuguranahalli in Bidadi taluk of Bengaluru South district are very disturbed and have been continuing their peaceful protest for more than 450 days.
Manjunath, a farmer says, “This weekend, the govt has taken up a project to plant 1.5 million tree saplings in three divisions of Bengaluru. While, on the other hand, how can they take up felling of lakhs of trees in Bidadi which are mature, fruit giving and timber trees. These trees were grown with all love and care for decades like our own children. Isn’t this injustice and goes against the very principles of justice?
Spearheading the online campaign “Save Bidadi: Stop the 9600-acre-Township Land Grab” urban conservationist and tree doctor Vijay Nishanth says, “In the last week since we and the farmers launched an online campaign, it has garnered more than 11,345 signatures who have expressed their total support for this campaign to save precious fertile land, lakhs of trees, the wetlands and the biodiversity found in the Bidadi region.”
Speaking to Green Minute News, N K Mohan Ram, Political Analyst says, “The government has fallen prey to privatization and this is basically systems failure since Bengaluru became the capital of Karnataka as it is located in one corner of the state just like other state capitals of India. Further, the government is into expansion mode now and is bowing to the dictates and demands of private industrialists in Bengaluru. We need private industries but there should be a limit to their expansion and the city is under total collapse with no means of its own water resources, power, roads, footpaths, etc and is unable to sustain the 1.4 crore population in such a small space.”
Vijay Nishanth adds, “It is highly foolish and unscientific development that this govt led by D K Shivakumar is following. It has taken up the Bidadi AI Township project without any environmental impact survey or any social assessment survey. Does the government think this project can decongest Bengaluru? In fact, it will create more chaos, vehicular congestion and serious consequences for the city which is already burdened by the growing number of software and IT enabled, AI companies in the last two decades. There are no commensurate resources be it water, power, gas supply, transport services, etc. All the 1000-odd wetlands of Bengaluru have vanished while the groundwater recharge is dismal and the city is unable to even harvest the 1100 mm of rainfall which Bengaluru receives annually.”
Mohan Ram further adds, “In the last few decades, we have seen unbridled growth and expansion from Bengaluru to the surrounding districts with no broad policy in sight on proper economic development. We don’t even have a mass transportation system as the present Bengaluru Metro Rail is insufficient to cater to the rising demands of commuters. Further, there is no space for the rising number of vehicles added to the city every day. The month of May alone saw the addition of 2.6 lakh vehicles which the city is unable to accommodate.”
Further, the ideal way to decongest Bengaluru is to move away the IT and IT enabled companies to other districts in Karnataka, adds Nishanth. “Why has the economy of Karnataka become Bengaluru centric? Karnataka’s development cannot become localized to Bengaluru and it should spread across five divisions of the state. But they should let alone the forest districts like Uttar Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Hassan and Chamarajanagar as they are the birthplace of major rivers of the state and home to PA. The KIOCL company almost destroyed the birthplace of two rivers of Tunga and Bhadra, fortunately, the Supreme Court shut down the company. Currently, there is lopsided development with emphasis only on Bengaluru and the surrounding nearby districts. There is need for balanced and scientific development so that our natural assets like rivers, wetlands, forests, grasslands, protected areas are not impacted.”
However, Mohan Ram adds, “If we shift to other areas across the state, it is a big problem as in the initial years of the formation of the state, no proper policy was in place for equitable development of the state. In fact, there is no proper connectivity and less said the better about power availability in either Kalyan Karnataka or North-East parts of Karnataka. Highly talented youth refuse to go for work in the outer districts of Karnataka. The connectivity by air, road, rail, etc is pretty bad even today as all development has been concentrated either in Bengaluru or nearby taluks which has now become part of the Greater Bengaluru Authority.”
The last few decades, Bengaluru and its surrounding taluks has seen unbridled and harmful growth in expansion of private industries which has turned the face of the “garden city of India” and earned the tag of being the worst city with dipping air quality, vanishing green cover and disappearing lakes and tanks. Is Bengaluru a permanent cash cow for rest of Karnataka, questions an activist.
It is high time the state govt under D K Shivakumar starts thinking about the serious consequences of lop-sided developmental activities which may lead to loss of livelihood, wetlands, biodiversity, rural spaces, agricultural income even as increase in urbanization, rise in pollution, health hazards, vehicular traffic, migration of people from rural areas, other states results in population explosion and severe congestion in the years to come.