Centre tells Karnataka govt to look into plaint against Isha Yoga centre

The letter carried with it the complaint by the Env Support Group which had said that the project site was comprehensively impeding at least three primary streams

The Union environment ministry has written to its Karnataka counterpart to examine the complaint over the environmental and ecological risks of the Isha Yoga Centre in Chikkaballapur district.

In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Forest Department, the Assistant Inspector General of Forests at the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) said the Government of Karnataka "is requested to examine the matter, take appropriate action under the intimation of this ministry".

The letter carried with it the complaint by the Environment Support Group which had said that the project site was comprehensively impeding at least three primary streams that emerge from the surrounding forests.

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The complaint, which included revenue maps and assessed the geographical changes, said a substantial portion of the project site constituted the Avalagurki Gomala Reserved Forest "indicating that it is to be considered as forest land as per the Supreme Court's directive in the Godavarman case".

It said the erasure of the geographical features in the area directly affects the water flow regime, potentially diverting the water flows away from the 'hallas' (streams) and affects the natural flow of water into the downstream regions, particularly the lakes.

"The erasure.. would not only result in flash flooding downstream, as the natural meandering drainage pattern has been substantially altered, especially during heavy precipitation, but it could potentially result in denying water to the downstream areas," the complaint said.

Stating that the region was ecologically sensitive, the Environment Support Group said the project was in violation of provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, Supreme Court decisions, Karnataka Revenue Act, Environment Protection Act among others.

Leo F Saldanha, ESG coordinator and trustee, had called for appropriate legal action against the violations.

In a statement, Isha said: "Sadhguru Sannidhi in Chikkaballapur was being built on agricultural land duly purchased and converted for non-agricultural use by the government. It appears that the ESG report has been prepared on a computer using superimposed maps from multiple sources of varying scales and accuracies. It does not accurately reflect the ground reality. It is unfortunate that the ESG has chosen to file a complaint on the basis of mere conjectures."