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SC directs Centre to tell if K'taka sought eco clearance for Kalasa-Banduri proj
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Union government to tell if Karnataka has sought any environmental clearance for the Kalasa-Banduri project in the Western Ghats that required diversion of about 258 hectares of forest land.
“The issue required serious consideration,” a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said after Mahadayi Bachao Abhiyan, a group of activists and environmentalists, contended before the court that the project was continuing without any approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and other related clearances from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
The court also directed the Karnataka government to file within a week an affidavit of a responsible officer stating whether an application has been made for forest and environment clearance and, if so, to whom and when and, the status of the application. “We need some clarity on the issue,” the bench said, also seeking an affidavit from the Union government within a week.
“We may note that the report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) is to the effect that about 258 hectares of forest land is to be diverted for the project. Therefore, the matter requires some serious consideration both by Karnataka as well as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” the bench said.
The project over the Mahadayi river in Belagavi district has long been a bone of contention between Karnataka and Goa. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had on Wednesday called it an “ecological bomb,” saying huge diversion of the Mahadayi river would have a negative impact on the state’s ecology.
Karnataka claimed the project was undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi and Gadag.
It involved building barrages across the Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to
divert 7.56 tmcft of water to the Malaprabha river, which supplies the drinking water to the twin cities.
“The issue required serious consideration,” a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said after Mahadayi Bachao Abhiyan, a group of activists and environmentalists, contended before the court that the project was continuing without any approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and other related clearances from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
The court also directed the Karnataka government to file within a week an affidavit of a responsible officer stating whether an application has been made for forest and environment clearance and, if so, to whom and when and, the status of the application. “We need some clarity on the issue,” the bench said, also seeking an affidavit from the Union government within a week.
“We may note that the report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) is to the effect that about 258 hectares of forest land is to be diverted for the project. Therefore, the matter requires some serious consideration both by Karnataka as well as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” the bench said.
The project over the Mahadayi river in Belagavi district has long been a bone of contention between Karnataka and Goa. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had on Wednesday called it an “ecological bomb,” saying huge diversion of the Mahadayi river would have a negative impact on the state’s ecology.
Karnataka claimed the project was undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi and Gadag.
It involved building barrages across the Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to
divert 7.56 tmcft of water to the Malaprabha river, which supplies the drinking water to the twin cities.
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(Published 03 August 2017, 21:38 IST)
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