Release: 07 April 2011 : Bangalore
Karnataka High Court initiates strong action to protect Bangalore's Lakes
Concrete steps initiated to implement Bangalore Lakes Report of High Court Legal Services Committee
The Principal Bench of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka constituted by Chief Justice Mr. J. S. Khehar and Justice Mr. A. S. Bopanna passed directions today to initiate the implementation the Report submitted by the High Court Legal Services Committee on 26 February 2011 for “Preservation of Lakes in the city of Bangalore”.
On 3rd March 2011 the High Court had accepted the report that been prepared by a committee headed by Hon'ble Shri Justice N. K. Patil, Judge, High Court of Karnatataka and Chairman, Karnataka High Court Legal Services Committee and involving Heads of Dept. of Revenue, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Karnataka Forest Department, Bangalore Development Authority, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Minor Irrigation Department, Lake Development Authority and Dept of Town Planning. The entire exercise was undertaken on the basis of directions issued by the High Court in a Public Interest Litigation filed by Environment Support Group and Leo Saldanha (party in person) (WP No. 817/2008) that raised serious concerns over the woeful lack of effort to protect and manage of lakes in Bangalore, and against commercialisation of the lakes.
The following is an unauthenticated text of the speaking order issued by the High Court today, and as noted by the Petitioners in Court :
“ A report has been submitted in furtherance of the motion in order dated 26 November 2010 passed by this Court in WP 817/2008 and other connected matters.
We wish to place on record our appreciation for the outstanding manner in which the issue pertaining to preservation of lakes has been addressed by this Committee. We also record our appreciation for all the member and Justice Mr. N. K. Patil.
Having heard counsels of rival parties and having been taken through the Strategies and Action Plan of the report, we are of the view that following issues deserves to be taken up on a war footing:
- Survey of lakes/tanks so as to demarcate boundaries followed by erection of fences.
- Identification of unauthorised construction within the area of lakes/tanks and removal thereof in accordance with law.
- Removal of silt as also weeds for the rejuvenation of some of the lakes and laying of bund wherever needed so as to enclosed lakes wherever necessary.
- Stoppage of flowing of sewage into lakes and tanks.
Since the members of the Committee constituted by this Court would be involved even in their official capacity to carry out the directions herein above, we are satisfied to request the Committee to undertake such tasks under their watchful control. The aforesaid tasks shall be completed as expeditiously as possible and reported to this Court seeking further direction as and when necessary.
List again in 3 months”.
The Court expressed its intent of monitoring compliance with the Report and fixed the next date of hearing for 7th July 2011.
No tolerance to Lake Pollution and Destruction:
In response to the submissions by various parties involved in all connected matters to the Lakes case, Chief Justice Mr. Khehar, speaking for the Bench, made it absolutely clear that the Court would not tolerate any encroachment, pollution and destruction of lakes. Expressing the Court's anguish over the deteriorating condition of lakes, he shared that the time is now to stop any further destruction and deterioration of our water bodies and for this all encroachments will be dealt with strictly. He also opined that the process initiated to protect lakes of Bangalore could soon be made applicable across other districts.
This is a very significant development in the decades long battle for the protection and preservation of lakes in Bangalore and other urban areas, and also rural areas of Karnataka. Earlier efforts included the 1988 report by the Lakshman Rao Committee recommending various measures to protect and conserve lakes in Bangalore. The Government of Karnataka had accepted the report in totality, but did very little by way of effective action to implement the recommendations made then. Subsequently, the “Karnataka Legislature's Joint House Committee on Encroachments in Bangalore City/Urban District” headed by then Member of the Legislative Assembly Mr. A. T. Ramaswamy had reported in July 2007 that lakes in Bangalore were being severely polluted and encroached, almost always by highly influential people.
Despite this brutally honest exposition of the state of affairs, the Government failed to launch effective measures to protect lakes in Bangalore. Weak support to regulatory agencies to take corrective action, political and administrative collusion with encroachers of commons and unchecked pollution over the years has resulted in tens of lakes being encroached, polluted and irreparably damaged. Such colossal failures in governance has critically worsened the quality of the environment, livelihoods of natural resource dependent people, destroyed excellent wetland habitats and caused a grave water scarcity that affects the city today. The situation is not very different in other districts of Karnataka.
The current unprecedented initiative of the Karnataka High Court based on ESG's PIL has become a major causative factor to ensure effective steps are taken to protect lakes and other wetlands in the Bangalore area. By forcing Government to act effectively in response to its orders, the Court has begun a critical process of securing the social, economic and ecological security of present and future communities in the Bangalore region.
Complete Lakes Report accessible on ESG website:
A complete copy of the report submitted by the High Court Legal Services Committee, based on which current actions are being initiated, can be downloaded from www.esgindia.org.
| Leo F. Saldanha Coordinator | Sunil Dutt Yadav Counsel |
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