Chandra Prakash Goyal, member of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), constituted by the Supreme Court, on Friday visited the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).
The visit came in the wake of a petition against the reduction of Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the national park.
Mr. Goyal made a field visit to interact with the local farmers and the petitioners who have approached the Supreme Court. The petition argued that the notification regarding the reduction of the ESZ has excluded ecologically critical areas surrounding established elephant corridors from the ESZ and that the adoption of a one-km ESZ norm for the protected area of the forest ignores site-specific ecological requirements.
He was also briefed by senior Forest Department officials, including Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force Meenakshi Negi.
Mr. Goyal said that BNP is a very important national park as far as Karnataka is concerned.
