The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the authorised jurisdictional officers of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to take action for removal of a large number of encroachments on Vrishabhavathi river basin, valley basin, its tributaries, connected lakes, and the buffer zones that were identified in the survey conducted by the State government.
The court said that the officers and assistant executive engineers should submit compliance report on action taken to removal of encroachments by October 19.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order while hearing a PIL petition, filed in 2020 by Githa Misra, a resident of the city, complaining about the disappearance of the Vrishabhavathi river valley, and pollution of river water and connecting drains.
NEERI report
The court in June 2021 had directed the government to conduct the survey to identify encroachments after the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has recommended a complete survey of Vrishabhavathi river valley.
The NEERI, in its interim report, had recommended survey to identify details of encroachments, buffer area to be maintained, stormwater drain, agricultural runoff, actual boundaries of all the lakes, etc.
