Bengaluru: A bird aviary will come up in 17 acres reclaimed by the forest department after waging a legal battle in Kothanur hobli of Krishnaraja Puram of Bengaluru. The Minister of Forests and Environment Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday laid foundation for the bird aviary and stated the aviary will help draw tourists apart from providing lung space for fast-growing Bengaluru city.
As per plans, the aviary will have varieties of birds and as many as 1800 indigenous plants. The 17 acres of 34 guntas in survey number 47 of Kothanur in K.R. Puram was declared forest land by then Deputy Commissioner in 2006. The declaration by the Deputy Commissioner was challenged in the Court. The Court upheld the decision of the Deputy Commissioner that 17 acres in survey number 47 in Kothanur hobli as forest land.
Again the 17 acres got into trouble after Assistant Commissioner M.G. Shivanna and Tahsildhar Ajit Rai declared the land as revenue land in 2023. The Minister said both officials took a “unilateral’ decision to declare 17 acres as government land to help a few vested interests.
Taking note of the land conversion, Khandre said, he registered criminal cases against the then Assistant Commissioner M.G. Shivanna and Tashildar Ajit Rai and cases against both Karnataka Administrative Officers have been filed under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Later, the High Court of Karnataka also declared 17 acres in survey number 47 in Kothanur as forest land and the forest department reclaimed the land to set up an aviary.
The aviary will help draw tourists to the spot especially during weekends while also serving as educative for local people, the Minister said.
