[Urbanstudy] Karnataka High Court initiates strong action to protect Bangalore's Lakes

Tue Apr 12 18:14:42 IST 2011

Dear Friends,

ESG had a significant victory in the High Court of Karnataka last week 
in its PIL agaisnt the privatisation of lakes (which are commons here).  
Enclosed please find the press release we made and the press coverage, 
which was extensive, is accessible at the following links:

http://newsrack.in/stories/esg/Bangalore/13
http://newsrack.in/stories/esg/ESG%20in%20the%20news/1

Bangalore now becomes the first city/district of India that has a 
comprehensive plan for the protection of its wetlands, that is legally 
binding and time bound as well. Crafted by a unique response to a prayer 
in our PIL, the Committee set up to prepare the report involved top 
officials of all key agencies involved in Lake Management, the HIgh 
Court Legal Services Committee and the petitioners as well.  The 
implementation of this plan will now be closely monitored by the High 
Court, and the next hearing for compliance is in three months.  During 
this time agencies must completely survey all 450 lakes surviving in the 
built Bangalore region, demarcate their legal boundaries, identify 
sources of pollution and also identify encroachers.

This is a significant step forward in a struggle that has been on for 
over three decades now, and with little or no progress.  This presents 
positive portents for building water security in an ecologically wise 
and socially just manner in an intensely urbanised region.

Leo Saldanha

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 3^rd 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:

   1.

      Survey of lakes/tanks so as to demarcate boundaries followed by
      erection of fences.

   2.

      Identification of unauthorised construction within the area of
      lakes/tanks and removal thereof in accordance with law.

   3.

      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.

   4.

      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 7^th 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 <http://www.esgindia.org/>_.

Leo F. Saldanha
Coordinator

Sunil Dutt Yadav
Counsel

Environment Support Group - Trust
Environment, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives
1572, 36th Cross, 100 Feet Ring Road
Banashankari II Stage,
Bangalore 560070. India

*Tel:* 91-80-26713559-61
*Email:* _esg at esgindia.org <mailto:esg at esgindia.org>_
*Web:* _www.esgindia.org <http://www.esgindia.org/>_

*An appeal for your support:*

ESG has been working on protecting lakes and other commons through a 
variety of legal, public and advocacy actions over the years. Almost all 
our PIL and campaign initiatives have been initiated with little or no 
financial support. Please donate generously in support of our efforts to 
help secure the commons for present and future generations.

*Donating to ESG*

/Environment Support Group has been in the forefront of a variety of 
environmental and social justice campaigns, keeping the interests of 
local project affected communities and voiceless ecosystems in primary 
focus. We respond progressively, effectively and responsibly in a spirit 
of engagement that acknowledges contextual complexities and facilitates 
innovative processes for securing environmental and social justice. /

Environment Support Group is registered as a Trust per the Indian Trusts 
Act. Donations made to ESG by Indian nationals are exempt from tax under 
Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. ESG is eligible to receive foreign 
donations per the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Environment Support Group values your contribution immensely. Please 
donate generously and help us respond more effectively and extensively 
to environmental and social justice concerns.

Details on how to donate are in the enclosed file.

-- 
Environment, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives Environment 
Support Group Trust 1572, 36th Cross, Banashankari II Stage Bangalore 
560070 Tel: 91-80-26713559-61 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26713316 Email: 
esg at esgindia.org Web: www.esgindia.org
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