Plea against polluted water supply to arid dists

The Karnataka High Court has transferred the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation challenging the implementation of two minor irrigation projects by the government to a bench hearing the petition concerning the pollution in Bellandur lake.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari was hearing a petition filed by R Anjaneya Reddy, a resident of Chikkaballapur who has moved the court challenging the implementation of Koramangala and Challaghatta (K&C) Valley project and Hebbala and Nagavara (H&N) Valley project, which will result in the supply of secondary treated water to minor irrigation tanks in Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural districts.

The petitioner has sought for directions to review the entire project and ensure that industrial effluents are not supplied to minor irrigation tanks of the said districts.

The petitioner has contended that the residents are exposed to serious health hazards by drinking the poor quality water being supplied to these districts through the minor irrigation tanks. The groundwater is the only source of drinking water for the residents, he said.