Bengaluru, 16 Jan

A citizen group urged the State government to step up measures to protect the 711 Kadugodi Reserve Forest, which they alleged had been “reduced drastically by encroachments and unauthorised land use”.

In a public letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Civic Opposition of India said that despite a 15 May 2025 Supreme Court directive that forest land recorded in Revenue records should be transferred to the Forest Department, a large portion remains threatened by construction and “opaque allotments”. In June last year, the Forest Department reclaimed around 200 acres of land.

The group noted that the Kadugodi forest was one of the last significant urban forest patches remaining within the City and an important breathing zone.

“Field reports and citizen documentation show that most of the original forest land has been compromised by real estate and infrastructure pressures,” the group stated. “Construction activities continue near Whitefield despite legal obligations to protect this land.”

The group urged the government to “cease all ongoing and planned constructions, encroachments, real estate allotments, and development work on recorded forest land within Kadugodi”.

It also called for an investigation into illegal land transfers.