The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the State Forest Department to examine whether the proposed four-lane work of the existing National Highway-275 would impact Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Srirangapatna and Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuary in Hunsur as alleged in a PIL petition.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi passed the order on the petition filed by retired bureaucrat H.T. Chandrashekar of Mysuru and C. Muthanna of Gonikoppa in Kodagu district.
The petitioners have complained that the project has been taken up even though the Forest Department had written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) indicating that the new highway would be passing very close to Ranganathittu sanctuary and several eco-sensitive zones.
It has been alleged in the petition that the NHAI is proceeding with the process of widening NH-275 based on the incorrect information provided by a private surveying agency stating that the alignment of widening the national highway would not affect both the sanctuaries.
