Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday slammed the Karnataka government over its action plan on Bengaluru’s Bellandur lake and formed a committee to inspect the lakes in the city. A bench headed by NGT acting chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim said the report submitted by the state government was “incorrect and misleading” and was bereft of the actual action taken on the ground.
“This is not what we expected from the state authorities. The action plan submitted by the state contains incorrect and misleading information. The report submitted by the state does not convince us. There has been default in compliance of the order of the tribunal. “We are not here just to read files and close them. Compliance of the order has to be done, do you want us to call the Army for compliance,” the bench observed.
The green panel, which stopped short of imposing a fine on the state and its instrumentalities, formed a committee comprising senior advocate Raj Panjwani, a professor from Indian Institute of Science- Bangalore, a senior scientist from Central Pollution Control Board, the commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the secretary of Bangalore Development Authority and a lawyer to be chosen by the senior advocate.
The committee would inspect Agara, Bellandur and Varthur lakes lakes in Bangalore on April 14 and 15. The committee has been directed to submit a detailed report after conducting inspection of the lakes and inform the tribunal about the quantum of municipal solid waste generated by the apartments and other agencies in the vicinity of the water body.
