The Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd. (VJNL) on Monday told the High Court of Karnataka that it is not likely to touch the protected Amruth Mahal kaval lands in Chikkamagaluru district for the construction of canals under the Upper Bhadra project.
“The notified kaval lands are under process of transfer in favour VJNL. We were not aware of kaval lands. There is a direction by the National Green Tribunal on protecting kaval lands as they are ecologically sensitive... We may need to take clearances from Wildlife (Protection) Act. We have not utilised the kaval land for the project so far,” said an advocate appearing for the VJNL.
These submissions were made before a Division Bench during the hearing of the PIL petition filed by V. Girish and two other environment and wildlife activists from Chikkamagaluru.
To a query by the Bench, the advocate clarified that the VJNL is not likely to touch the kaval lands while seeking time to submit detailed a response to the petition.
The petitioners had contended that some parts of the land to be used for the project are part of the Basur Amruth Mahal Kaval Black Buck conservation reserve.
