Bengaluru, Sept. 11 -- In a big win for the city's environmentalists and heritage lovers, the Karnataka government has officially declared an 8.61-acre green stretch near Bengaluru's Cantonment Railway Station as a Biodiversity Heritage Site.

Tucked in the heart of a congested and rapidly urbanising part of the city, this lush patch, home to 371 mature trees across 50 species, has long served as a much-needed "green lung" in central Bengaluru. It now gets formal protection under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as per a report by news agency PTI.

The government order, dated September 10, noted that this space plays a critical role in filtering the city's air and noise pollution, especially around the chaotic Cantonment Railway Juncti...