Shrinking shock absorbers of Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru Premium

Explore the implications of reduced Eco-Sensitive Zones around Bannerghatta National Park, near Bengaluru, and its impact on wildlife conservation.

For a State that takes pride in having the country’s highest elephant population at 6,013, even as it has suffered a high rate of human casualties due to attacks by elephants (20 deaths in 2025-26 alone), Karnataka ought to be in the forefront of maintaining Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ).

Bannerghatta National Park, near Bengaluru, acts as a terminal point on the northern side of the Mysore Elephant Reserve, the movement path for Asian Elephants to migrate from the adjacent Cauvery wildlife Sanctuary of Karnataka, and Krishnagiri and Hosur Forest Division of Tamil Nadu.  | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

However, instead of maintaining the ESZ, whose main objective is to function as a buffer for protected areas, successive governments have worked at reducing the ESZ around the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), which is home to three elephant corridors — Karadikal-Mahadeshwara, Thally-Bilikal and Bilikal-Jawalagiri — and over 150 elephants.

In 2015, the Karnataka government submitted a proposal for declaring the ESZ around BNP in Bengaluru.

The ESZ initially proposed around BNP in the draft notification dated June 15, 2016, covered an area of 268.96 sq. km. Subsequently, this was reduced to 181.57 sq. km., and thereafter to 168.84 sq. km. in the final notification dated March 11, 2020.

In the 2016 draft notification, the BNP’s ESZ was 100 m to 4.5 km from the boundary of the national park, which was subsequently reduced to 100 m to 1 km in the 2020 ESZ notification.