Construction of War Memorial halted

Construction of War Memorial halted
Bangalore: May 18, DH News Service

Fearing the wrath of the High Court, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has stopped the construction work on the controversial War Memorial which is proposed to come up at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park.

BDA officials state that based on the directions from their Commissioner, Siddaiah, the ongoing work was halted. “Since there was no stay order on the war memorial construction, we had begun excavating the site. However, we have now been asked by the commissioner to wait till the High Court verdict comes out,” said a BDA official.

The BDA had begun the construction work since Saturday. The Authority had marked the area where the construction was proposed and begun excavation work.

The HC last month had reserved its verdict on the War Memorial project till after the vacation. The Court had heard a petition by Krishna Apartments Owners Welfare Association. The division bench comprising Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Mohanshantanagowdar and had reserved for Judgement.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners B C Thiruvengadam submitted that the construction seems to be in a hurry and the Government has violated all the norms including the Transparency Act. He further said that the felling of the trees at the park will affect the ecology and the construction will restrict in field movement in the park and another seven acres of green space will be taken away.

Pointing out that the State has not submitted much details regarding the project to the Court and sought to stall the work until required details are not submitted.