Hesaraghatta Grasslands in Danger, Again!

HESARAGHATTA RESOURCE CENTRE

About Hesaraghatta

The Hesaraghatta lakebed area and grasslands in the surrounding catchment area in the north-west of Bangalore are an important reservoir of biodiversity. In addition to supporting wildlife, these grasslands also provide valuable ecosystem services that is critical to the residents of Bangalore. It is a an important water catchment area and protection of this area is also to the proposed rejuvenation of the Arkavathy river basin, which can provide vital water security to Bangalore.

Hesaraghatta … Read More

Kannada Film Industry Continues to Destroy Hesaraghatta Grasslands

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I have been working towards preserving the grasslands in Hesaraghatta near Bangalore with my colleagues at the Arkavathy River Rejuvenation group. The govt. of Karnataka proposed to build a film city here and a public interest litigation (PIL) opposing that has been filed in the High Court of Karnataka. Consequently, the Karnataka High Court ordered all parties to maintain status quo until further notice.

The land is under the supervision of Kanteerava Studios which lets it out for shooting movies. … Read More

Photographers Ruining Hesaraghatta – A Wake-up Call

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A rapid assessment study of the grasslands of Hesaraghatta, outside Bangalore, shows that unregulated and excessive vehicular movement of bird photographers is creating permanent vehicle tracks, causing significant disturbance to the feeding and foraging activities of birds, imposing severe stress on the local birdlife, as well as damaging the ecosystem for some rare butterflies.

Conservation India condemns such unethical and insensitive photography and urges wildlife photographers to strictly adhere to the cardinal rule of nature photography — “The welfare of … Read More

Hesaraghatta PIL — Karnataka High Court Orders Parties to Maintain Status Quo Until Further Notice

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In September 2012, a group of concerned citizens led by photographer Mahesh Bhat, who lives near the Hesaraghatta grasslands in Bangalore had initiated an online campaign to save 300 acres from getting converted into a film city. Earlier, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had planted several thousand saplings in almost half of the grassland (See ‘Killing a Grassland‘). The misguided seemingly good-intentioned approach was stopped thanks to an outcry from conservationists in the city but not before considerable … Read More

Dog Menace, Hesaraghatta

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In the first week of September, I visited the Hesaraghatta grasslands in Bangalore with a couple of friends. I have already posted on CI about the habitat destruction in the grasslands (see gallery post in CI here) here.

As soon as I entered, I was witness to a disturbing sight. There were a couple of dogs, of which one was chasing this black-naped hare. It would have almost caught the hare, which was fortunate to live another day.… Read More

Buzzard and Earth Mover, Hesaraghatta

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This image was made a few months back during the winter in Hesaraghatta, a lake on the outskirts of Bangalore city. The habitat is basically a grassland and semi shrub vegetation. During winter a large variety of birds such as kestrel, harriers (marsh, pied, montagu’s and pallid), common stonechat, steppe eagle, greater spotted eagle, zitting cisticola etc., migrate to this small area. Many months ago, the local development body had proposed to build a theme park this area – a … Read More

Killing a Grassland, Hesaraghatta, Bangalore

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There is an urgent conservation issue related to the Hesaraghatta grasslands in NW Bangalore. Of all places in Bangalore, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) selects possibly the last remaining grassland to go on a tree-planting overdrive. Using bulldozers, close to 30,000 pits have been dug and most of them planted. The media coverage was helpful and possibly aided in putting a halt to the digging but almost 200 acres of prime grassland is dug and gone — unless the saplings … Read More

Hessarghatta Grasslands Must Be Saved!

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OUR APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA

We urge the government to take a visionary decision to protect the natural grassland habitat of Hessarghatta for posterity by notifying it as a Conservation Reserve. This will not only ensure the safeguarding of Karnataka’s precious natural heritage but will also protect the water catchments of Arkavathy, which provides water security to the people and farmers in the area. Such a decision would be in consonance with India’s Constitutional mandate under Article 48-A,

Stop! Don’t Shoot Like that — A Guide to Ethical Wildlife Photography

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“I will not harm my subject!”

Every nature photographer should willingly and happily follow this simple credo – even when no one else is watching.

This is not hard to do, and for those with a genuine love for nature, or even just a conscience, it should be second nature. Unfortunately, thanks to the vast numbers of people who now own high-end photography equipment, and are constantly on the look out for excitement – and instant gratification on social media … Read More

Please Help Stop ‘Kolubete’: A Ritual Hunting Festival — 18th-25th Dec, 2014

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In the ritual hunting festival called, ‘Kolubete’, thousands of innocent wild animals are mercilessly killed while lakhs of villagers stand by to watch the event. This year, two hunting festivals are planned to be held on December 18th, 2014 and on Dec 25th, 2014.

Shri Ajay Misra, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Karnataka Forest Department has issued directions to stop the hunting festival in all districts of Karnataka. Along with this, an awareness programme is planned to be … Read More

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