Yettinahole: NGT pulls up state, Centre for neglecting biodiversity

Expressing unhappiness over steps taken to protect biodiversity of Western Ghats at Yettinahole project site by government agencies, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday asked the Centre and Karnataka governments to submit details of the project.

The Tribunal headed by Justice  Swatanter Kumar, which is hearing a petition against the project, also questioned the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for granting permission to cut trees in the project area without proper assessment of the damage caused to the Western Ghats.

The state government claimed that totally 4,995 trees would be cut on 13.90 hectares area to execute the project and so far 2,700 trees had been felled in accordance with law. The bench questioned the state government how many saplings had been planted to compensate the loss.

Wondering how the MoEF could have a soft view about the project, the bench ordered the state government to grow more than 10 times the trees cut, as compensation.

Eight reservoirs
Advocates representing petitioner K N Somshekar said, Yettinahole project was nothing but diversion of tributaries of the River Netravati and the state government planned to build eight reservoirs. The project would not only hit inflow of water to Netravati river from its origin, it would also harm the biodiversity of Western Ghats. The next hearing has been posted to December 2.

Yettinahole project will come up near Sakleshpur, from where the state government intends to lift water to provide drinking water to parched areas, including Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural and Kolar districts.