After the Karnataka High Court issued contempt notice to the State government, the latter has constituted committees for maintenance and development of lakes in the Bangalore Metropolitan Area.
The three-member committee will be headed by the Commissioner of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Development Authority and the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bangalore Urban district, would be its members.
The committee has been constituted as per the Karnataka High Court’s April 11, 2012 order on public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed by Environment Support Group (ESG), B. Krishna Bhat and others, seeking directions to the State on preservation of lakes.
However, the government had not constituted the committees even a year after the High Court’s direction.
And the government came out with a notification constituting the committees on September 18 after the ESG filed contempt of court plea in the High Court, which on August 29, 2013 ordered issue of notice to the Chief Secretary.
The government has also constituted committees to monitor maintenance of lakes situated in the jurisdiction of city municipal councils. These committees will be headed by the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned and the commissioners of the respective Municipal Corporation and Urban Development Authorities will be members of the committees.
The committees have an elaborate task of maintaining lakes in good condition as specified by the High Court based on the recommendations of the committee headed by Justice N.K. Patil, a sitting judge of the High Court, and various directions issued by the High Court from time to time before disposing of the PILs.
