Karnataka HC orders status quo on opening of Isha Yoga Centre at base of Nandi Hills

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday ordered status quo on the unveiling of Adiyogi statue and the opening of Isha Yoga Centre at the foothill of the Nandi Hills. Issuing notices to the State, the yoga centre, and 14 other respondents, the court issued the interim order of stay.

The statue was scheduled to be inaugurated by Sadguru’s Isha Foundation on January 15. The public interest litigation (PIL) alleged that a commercial enterprise was being set up in an ecologically fragile environment and that the government has illegally allotted land for the purpose.

The PIL was filed by Kyathappa S and a few other villagers from Chikkaballapura. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Ecology, Karnataka government, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, and Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore, are among the 16 respondents.

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The PIL alleges that the grievance is that the authorities allowed in blatant violation destroying the environment eco system, watershed, core command area of Nandi Hills, NDB Foothills in Chikkaballapura Hobli to establish a private foundation at the base of the famous Nandi Hills at the instance of spiritual guru of the yoga centre to establish commercial activities in the core area of greenery hillock viz Panchagiri Nandi Range.

The PIL says the authorities allowed for destructing, defacing the eco system, environment and natural rainwater streams, water bodies, water feeder streams in the foothill of Nandi Hills and Narasimha Devaru Range (Betta) in existence for several centuries in violation of environmental laws, which having direct impact on the living, livelihood, cattle, sheep, wild animals, in the region of Nandi Hills.

The PIL claims that the rivers north Pinakini and south Pinakini originate in Nandi Hills, which would be affected. It says the yoga centre brought a metal idol of Lord Shiva and assembled to deface the land for the idol installation overnight.