STRR to pass thru BNP core area

As reported by Hindu here, 

       "The long-delayed Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) may have to “fly” over core areas of the draft eco-sensitive Bannerghatta National Park as it attempts to connect seven towns that encircle Bengaluru. Preliminary documents submitted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to the Ministry of Environment and Forests in June to obtain the terms of reference show that the STRR will pass through the core areas of the national park, even if it is elevated for a nearly 7-km stretch"

BET's letter to the chief secretary regarding the proposal to construct the Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) bisecting Bannerghatta National Park can be found here

Drafted by whom for whom?

Bannerghatta National Park(BNP) is part of the contiguous wildlife habitat of nearly 1400 sqkms bordering Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and Jowalagiri Reserve Forest on South and eastern boundaries. All of these are part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve. BNP is at the terminal point of the Mysore Elephant Reserve on the northern side.

On 15 June, 2016, Ministry of Environment and forest (MOEF), issued a draft notification to declare an area of 268.9 sqkm as Eco-Sensitive Zone(ESZ) around BNP. This was done in response to the supreme court order, which said, in the absence of any such notification, the ESZ would be the 10kms radius around the park. The 2016 notification by MOEF expired as the state government didn’t submit its view. On 30thOct 2018, Karnataka government put forward a draft proposal, which reduced the ESZ to 169 sqkms. This is 100 sqkms lesser than the 2016 notification. Back in 1991, even before the concept of ESZ came into picture, the government had declared one km area around BNP as the safe zone. The new draft notification at some points is just 100mtrs from the park boundary eating away the safe zone.

Public comments for the notification to be sent to esz-mef@nic.in by 31 Dec 2018. The following are the comments were sent by Bangalore Environment Trust (BET)