BMRC, others told to explain Lalbagh work

BMRC, others told to explain Lalbagh work
NGOs Still Pursue Tree-Felling Debate
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The high court on Tuesday sent notices to BMRC, BDA, KIADB, state government, Centre and others on PIL challenging land allotment in Lalbagh for building a Metro Rail station.
A vacation division Bench headed by Justice N K Patil posted the matter to Thursday; it asked the state government and BMRC to file affidavits explaining their activities in Lalbagh. In their PIL, Environmental Support Group and Hasiru-Usiru challenged an ordinance passed on November 22, 2008, seeking to amend the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act. They also challenged an order passed on February 25, 2009, which allowed BMRC to take over 1,135.18 square metre inside Lalbagh.
According to the petitioners, the land in question was handed over without complying with provisions of the Karanataka Town and Country Planning Act, and also without bringing a suitable amendment to CDP-2015. “There is no proposal in CDP-2015 for alignment of Namma Metro within Lalbagh,” the petitioners’ counsel said.
“The November 22, 2008, ordinance has lapsed since it wasn’t placed before the January assembly session held in Belgaum. Also, the authorities issued land acquisition notification for that area on November 20 — two days before the ordinance. Hence, they did not look into alternatives,” the counsel explained.
According to the petitioners, 293 trees will be affected in the East-West corridor, 501 in the North-South corridor, and 412 trees in the 33-km project.
SCHOOL ORDER STAYED: The HC stayed an order passed by the block education officer on April 8, asking authorities to closed down Infant Jesus Cottage School and transfer its students to another school. The school replied that it had obtained a no-objection certificate from the authorities to start a school based on ICSE.
Won’t commercially exploit Lalbagh: BMRC
In a statement to the court related to another PIL, BMRC said it will not create parking zones and malls at Lalbagh Metro station or at any other station on this stretch. “There is private land acquisition on RV Road and Jayanagar Metro station areas,” BMRC said in reply to PIL by Mahaveer Ranka, who challenged treefelling in Lalbagh.
“Till March 31 this year, work on 75 milestones out of 151 have been completed and Rs 1,305,47 crore spent on the project. Also, 1,135.18 square metre is equivalent to 123 guntas and it amounts to just 0.12% of the 243-acre-large Lalbagh area,” BMRC said. “The project was executed after taking into account relevant and detailed reports. It will provide a benefit of Rs 1,155 crore to the public. A total of 188 trees will be felled and 202 pruned,” BMRC explained. TNN