'Economic growth, ecological sustainability can go together'

New Delhi, PTI: Hailing the Karnataka government's decision to declare its lands in the Yelahanka taluk of Bengaluru Urban district as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the Siddaramaiahled dispensation was demonstrating how economic growth, social development and ecological sustainability could go hand-in-hand. The Karnataka government on Monday notified 5,678 acres and 32 guntas of land in the Yelahanka taluk as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve.

The notification came after the state Cabinet last month decided to declare the grassland as a conservation reserve. Reacting to the development, former Union environment minister Ramesh said the Karnataka government had been attracting very many new investments since May 2023. It has also been implementing historic income support, food security and other guarantees, he added. "Now, it has taken a bold decision to finally declare about 5,700 acres of government lands in the Yelahanka taluk of Bengaluru Urban district as the Greater Hesaraghatta Grassland Conservation Reserve under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972," Ramesh said in a post on X.

This grassland reserve is critical and, as a large catchment area, will greatly help in groundwater recharge for farmers in surrounding villages, Ramesh said. It will augment the water supply to Bengaluru city, he further said. "It will provide a natural carbon sink that mitigates effects of climate change in urban areas. It protects a rich biodiversity ecosystem that includes animals, insects, plants and trees, many of which are under serious threat," Ramesh said.