Green tribunal order changes BDA's revised master plan, too

Retrospective enforcement could demolish thousands of buildings

By way of an order, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has amended the provisions in Bengaluru’s Revised Master Plan (RMP), 2015, regarding the buffer zones of lakes and their feeder canals (rajakaluve).

In the verdict on the encroachment of Bellandur lake wetland, the five-member panel of the NGT led by its chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said in the order, “We are of the considered view that the fixation of distance from water bodies (lakes and rajakaluve) suffers from the inbuilt contradiction, legal infirmity and is without any scientific justification. The RMP, 2015, provides 50 metres from the middle as buffer zone in the case of primary rajakaluve, 25 metres in the case of secondary rajakaluve and 15 metres in the tertiary rajakaluve in contradiction to the 30 metres in the case of lake which is certainly (a) much bigger water body and its utility as a water body/wetland is well-known part of wetland.”

The NGT stipulated that the buffer zones for lakes will be 75 metres and not 30 metres while ordering measuring the buffer zones of the rajakaluve from the edge and not from the middle.

Conceding that the NGT has amended the RMP, 2015, Chowdegowda, Town Planning Member of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) board, said the BDA would wait for clarity from the government, based on which an official order would be issued later.

“We (BDA) need clarity on whether the order is retrospective, for which we will wait for directions from the state government. I don’t think it will be retrospective as it will lead to a large-scale destruction of existing buildings,” he said.

Welcoming the judgment, environmentalist Dr A N Yellappa Reddy said the BDA had committed “blunders after blunders”. It not only cleared projects in the eco-sensitive zones as in the case of Bellandur lake, but also reduced buffer zones. he said.

“Earlier, the buffer zone was 300 metres for lakes which was later reduced to 100 metres following pressure by land owners and realtors. The rest of the damage was done by the BDA in its RMP, 2015, as it reduced the buffer zone to 30 metres for lakes and measuring the rajakaluve from the middle,” Reddy added.

B V Sathish, Chief Engineer (Lake Division), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), termed the ruling essential to protect the water bodies. “The challenge now is the enforcement,” he said.