[Urbanstudy] Karnataka High Court directs BBMP to widen roads in strict accordance with Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act

[ESGINDIA]

*PRESS RELEASE*

16 March 2009

*Karnataka High Court directs BBMP to widen roads in strict accordance 
with Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act*



In a significant decision that will have major repercussions for 
democratic and planned urban infrastrcture development, Chief Justice 
Mr. P. D. Dinakaran and Justice Mr. V. G. Sabhahit constituting the 
Division Bench of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka ruled that the 
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) can undertake road widening in 
the city only in scrupolous compliance with all the provisions of the 
Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act (KTCP Act) and the Karnataka 
Preservation of Trees Act (KPT Act).



This interim direction was issued pursuant to an application made by 
BBMP who argued that the orders issued by the Hon'ble Karnataka Legal 
Services Authority consequent to a PIL filed by Environment Support 
Group and ors. had stopped the road widening programme. In argument the 
petitioners submitted that at no time have they opposed road widening so 
long as it met with the wider public interest and was done in strict 
compliance with existing laws, in particular KTCP Act and KPT Act.



The decision of the Hon'ble Court today is a significant victory to the 
long struggle of hundreds of affected communities across Bangalore who 
were living in constant fear of displacement and destruction of their 
homes and businesses due to the road widening programme which was being 
implemented in blatant violation of the procedural laws. _By virtue of 
the present interim order duty has been cast on the officials of the 
BBMP to ensure that each and every road widening project that they 
intend to implement will strictly follow the deliberate consultative 
decision making processes by involving the affected communities and the 
wide public_. In addition, the insistence on strict compliance with the 
KTP Act has sufficient safeguard to ensure that the Forest officials 
will not recklessly allow for massive tree felling in Bangalore. In 
fact, the Tree Officer is now bound to allow for tree felling as a 
consequence of road widening, only when the BBMP can legally prove its 
full compliance with KTCP Act.



The direction ensures that due process of law will have to be fully 
adhered to when implementing projects such as road widening. This 
decision will have a strong bearing on all such transport and urban 
infrastructure development projects that have thus far been implemented 
without complying with the provisions KTCP Act. It may be recalled that 
the PIL was filed to ensure that the process of urban transport 
infrastructure development in Bangalore, in particular road widening, 
would be shaped by legally mandated planning and consultative mechanisms 
and various policies initiated by the Centre, in particular, the 
National Urban Transport Policy and the National Policy on Street Vendors.



Environment Support Group and CIVIC Bangalore were represented by Mr. 
Sunil Dutt Yadav, Advocate, and Mr. Leo Saldanha, Coordinator of ESG 
appeared as party in person.

Details of the PIL are accessible at www.esgindia.org


Bhargavi S. Rao                                                         
                                        Nandini Chami

Environment Support Group, 105, East End B Main Road, Jayanagar 9^th 
Block East, Bangalore 560069.

Tel: 91-80-22441977/26531339 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26534364 Email: 
_esg at esgindia.org <mailto:esg at esgindia.org>_ Web: _www.esgindia.org 
<http://www.esgindia.org/>_



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