Karnataka HC quashes order transferring bird reserve to BBMP

The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the government notification dated November 19, 2019, transferring the Puttenahalli Bird Conservation Reserve in Yelahanka to the BBMP.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has directed the Forest Department to look after the conservation reserve.

The PIL was filed by the Yelahanka-Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust and several others.

The petitioners contended that the area comprising the Puttenahalli Lake had been declared a bird conservation reserve in April 2015. They claimed that the move to hand over the lake to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was illegal and has been causing harm to the environment.

“We are of the considered view that it is an admitted position that the chief wildlife warden is the competent authority to control, manage and maintain the bird conservation reserve in question. As such, we do not find any justification in handing over the bird conservation reserve to the BBMP.

“We, therefore, quash the impugned notification and direct the Forest Department to look after the bird conservation reserve at the Puttenahalli Bird Conservation Reserve in Yelahanka, Bengaluru,” the bench said.

Earlier, the state government had submitted that a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been allotted towards all pending works at the bird conservation reserve. The court directed the state government to release the amount to carry out the pending works and ensure that proper maintenance and development takes place at the bird conservation reserve in order to preserve the birds, their young ones, eggs and nests.

Orders to BWSSB

The bench has also issued directions to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to take adequate measures to stop the leakage of sewage into the conservation reserve for the safety of flora and fauna.

The court has directed the BBMP to cooperate with the chief wildlife warden in the task of maintaining and developing the water tank. “The authorities concerned shall ensure that the bird conservation reserve in question is maintained and the birds are properly protected,” the bench said.