The Karnataka High Court on Monday granted time till November to study a report submitted by the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) that suggested measures to protect the Tippagondanahalli reservoir (TGR) catchment area and rejuvenate the Arkavathi.
A Division Benchm comprising acting Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, gave time after Additional Advocate General A.G. Shivananna said that the government needed time to study the recommendations and to initiate further action.
Meanwhile, the EMPRI, in its report, had recommended the establishment of a multi-disciplinary authority to manage the Arkavathi basin.
Also, the report said that restrictions, imposed in 2003 by classifying the catchment area into several zones, on activities that could be carried out in the catchment area should be continued till the formation of the authority.
Recommending stopping illegal quarrying, soil excavation and sand extraction in the TGR catchment area, EMPRI said that concerned departments should take stringent action against these acts by establishing a monitoring cell.
It has also suggested initiating stringent action against industrial effluents being discharged into the river course.
The EMPRI report also suggested the adoption of rainwater harvesting (RWH) by households, warehouses and commercial buildings situated in the TGR catchment area, which is already classified as a “dark zone or over exploited zone” by the Central Groundwater Board.
It was also suggested in the report that industrialists should come forward to construct RWH structures, artificial recharge structures, etc.
Besides, the report also recommended the removal of encroachments, unauthorised obstructions on tank and river beds, and reviving the tank system. Most of the suggestions were already made by the EMPRI in its interim report submitted in April this year.
The Court had asked EMPRI to undertake comprehensive analysis of TGR catchment area, and suggest measures for rejuvenation of Arkavathi and Kumuudavati rivers and the catchment area.
It had issued the directions earlier this year during the hearing of a batch of petitions, filed by owners the building that had come up in the TGR area in violation of restrictions.
The petitioners had questioned the restrictions imposed on certain types of developments.
Following this, the government in July 2014 had issued a fresh notification withdrawing the 2003 restrictions but the High Court subsequently stayed the 2014 notification.
