Survey for elephant corridor begins

Revenue and Forest Departments take it up nearly 10 years after it was proposed

Almost a decade after it was first mooted, a survey of over 1,000 acres near the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) — meant to be developed into an elephant corridor — has begun. This is following a direction to the Anekal taluk authorities by Bengaluru Urban DC J. Manjunath. Mr. Manjunath told The Hindu that the Forest Department was seeking this land [survey 69 in Shivanahalli spread over 1,129 acres of gomala land] to enhance the width of the elephant corridor. “Recently, when I visited the area, we heard what the villagers and environmentalists had to say. Some people complained that resorts have encroached land,” he said. The land, which adjoins the Bannerghatta National Park, has several habitations. “Some have been granted land in the 1970s for cultivation. There are applicants to the government [by owners] to grant them land for livelihood. A survey is needed to assess the extent of land, lands granted, how genuine the claims are, etc.,” Mr. Manjunath added.