NGT calls for report on residential project

The NGT has sought a report by a joint committee on a plea against the construction of a high-rise residential project in Bengaluru.

The court was hearing a plea by H P Rajanna, a Bengalurean, against the construction of the apartment project at Kasavanahalli village in Varthur hobli, Bengaluru Urban district, by Godrej Properties Ltd and Wonder Projects Development Pvt Ltd.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice A K Goel formed a committee comprising representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) of Karnataka and the state pollution control board. “Let a factual and action taken report in the matter be furnished by (the) joint committee. The state pollution control board will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The report may be furnished within a month by email,” the bench said.

According to the applicant, the project is in the prohibited area of the buffer zone of the lake and the rajakaluves (stormwater drains) cross the project lands.

The petition said the area is an eco-fragile zone and the environmental clearance was granted in January last year, against which an appeal was pending. It said the environmental clearance was in violation of an order of the NGT.

The NGT also directed the petitioner to furnish a complete set of papers to the CPCB, SEIAA, and file an affidavit of service within a week.