Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal order stating that 25 to 75 metres of the buffer zone should be maintained around lakes and canals in the Bengaluru city limits has been cancelled by a 3 member bench of the Supreme Court.
This judgment comes in the wake of the Karnataka government’s appeal against the NGT order on maintaining a buffer zone around lakes and canals in the city. The Supreme Court directed the NGT to bring out a new order.
The NGT in its order had directed the state government to strictly implement its order of maintaining a buffer zone of up to 75 meters around lakes and canals in Bangalore city.
The state government had approached the Supreme Court against this order. The Supreme Court has now upheld the argument of the State government in its judgment and cancelled the NGT order.
The apex court has also directed the NGT to decide buffer zones for lakes and canals as per the old rules of the state government as It is very difficult to follow the ruling of NGT. If the state government implements NGT order half of Bengaluru city would have to be demolished ruled the apex court.
Earlier the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) had met the Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister Dr G Parameshwar and informed him about their inability to follow the NGT order.
There was a huge debate regarding the government approaching the Supreme Court against NGT owing to the pressure from real estate groups.
The intention of the NGT’s order regarding the maintenance of buffer zones around lakes and canals was to save the lakes and canals from pollution.
The Tribunal had also mentioned in its order that this would help in saving the water bodies and the environment in the fast-growing city of Bengaluru.
An area of 75 meters from the side of the lakes, 50 meters from the primary canals, 35 meters from the secondary canals and 25 meters from tertiary canals were the buffer zones mentioned in the NGT order.
