Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) on Friday assured the High Court of Karnataka that it would not continue till Monday the survey and geotechnical work undertaken at Sharavathi Valley Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary for a 2,000-MW underground pump storage hydro-electric project.
The assurance was given before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi after the Bench said it might have to stay the work as the records showing that the government had consulted the State Wildlife Board before the Chief Wildlife Warden granted permission under Section 29 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act were not forthcoming from the document produced in court.
The advocate appearing for KPCL assured the court that the work of drilling boreholes would not be continued till Monday, and that the documents related to the State government’s appraisal of the work to be undertaken for survey and geotechnical investigation would submitted by Monday, the next date of hearing.
The Bench was hearing petitions filed by Edward Santosh Martin, a Ballari-based conservationist, and United Conservation Movement Charitable and Welfare Trust, Bengaluru. The petitioners had questioned the legality of carrying out work inside be protected sanctuary while alleging that environmental laws were being violated in carrying out the work.
