Environmentalists have welcomed a recent Supreme Court judgment that upheld a High Court judgment giving protection to Vaccine Depot, an urban forest, in Belagavi.
The Supreme Court delivered the judgment on August 12 upholding the High Court order that asked Smart City Limited not to cut any more trees in Vaccine Depot. The Supreme Court also ratified the High Court order that said civil construction will be taken up only on 1.76 acres of the British-era lung space which is around one per cent of the 156-acre park area.
Belagavi Smart City Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle of the Urban Development Department, has been asked to protect and preserve the local ecosystem of the area.
The Supreme Court order has said that the petitioners are free to approach the High Court to make an application to demarcate the area in which construction will be taken up. The order reiterated that the High Court order banning cutting of trees stands confirmed.
The High Court issued the order in May this year, ordering status quo in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Rajeev Topannanavar and other environmentalists from Belagavi.
They had earlier submitted representations to Smart City Limited urging it to stop deforestation in Vaccine Depot. When their pleas did not evoke any response, they approached the High Court.
Advocates Kiran Kulkarni and Satish Biradar told the court that Belagavi Smart City Limited was indiscriminately cutting down trees in the name of development. They expressed the suspicion that construction activities will harm the local ecosystem permanently.
Smart City officers sought vacation of the stay. They said that the construction is being taken up only in 7,130 square metres which comes to only 1.76 acres that amounted to 1.12% of the total area. Smart City is planning to construct an Aviation Gallery, Art Gallery, open-air amphitheatre and an Indian village.
They also said that no further trees will be cut down nor translocated to carry out the proposed construction works. They said that the works have not damaged any grasslands. They also promised to plant over 93,000 saplings. The High Court ordered Smart City officers not to take up any further construction. They were also asked to take due permissions from the relevant authorities. The petitioners approached the Supreme Court with a request to ask the High Court to reverse all construction undertaken.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition, but allowed the petitioners to go to the High Court seeking demarcation of the construction area.
Mr. Topannanavar said that the fight to save Vaccine Depot will continue and that they will soon approach the High Court seeking demarcation.
