High Court seeks information on noise pollution

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday directed the State government and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to file their affidavit on enforcement of noise pollution norms in the State.

“These are the norms of the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests. It is the direction issued to police officials, but not implemented since the year 2000. It is the dereliction of duty on part of the police,” Chief Justice D H Waghela made an oral observation, during the hearing of a petition by Malleswaram Residents’ Welfare Association. 

The government and the board were directed to submit details regarding the action taken by them to bring down noise levels. Earlier, the counsel for the KSPCB submitted that noise levels had gone up in Bangalore and the board had brought the matter to the notice of the police. 

“The State is under obligation to ensure noise level does not exceed ambient pollution level. But, you are shunning your obligations. You are destroying the City,” the Court said. It said that criminal cases should be registered against officials who fail to enforce the norms.

Reservation in ULBs

The High Court of Karnataka has stayed the order of single judge to redo the reservation roaster for the posts of president/mayor and vice-president/deputy mayor in all the urban local bodies (ULBs) except Mangalore City Corporation.

Abdul Azeez, a Mangalore corporator, had approached the court over the reservation in urban local bodies and Justice H G Ramesh, in January 2014, had directed the State government to redo the reservation roaster for the posts of the mayor and deputy mayor posts on the ground that there were “repetitions” in fixing the reservation. The government was granted two months’ time to redo the reservation on the “principle of rotation.”

The State government had went in appeal and on Monday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna stayed order.

However the bench changed the reservation for Mangalore City Corporation. Accordingly, the post of mayor, which was reserved for general (woman), will now be reserved for general category and the post of deputy mayor will be for general (woman).