BANGALORE: The High Court on Tuesday gave a conditional approval to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to extend the service road near Hunsemaranahalli Lake on Bellary Road. Hearing a petition filed by Environment Support Group (ESG), which stated that water scarcity in the city was high and lakes across the city should be protected, a division bench comprising Justices K Sreedhar Rao and Suri Appa Rao, in its interim order, directed NHAI to file an undertaking that the lake would not be affected during the construction of the road. The bench ordered status quo during the construction of the service road along with the other three lakes: Chikkajala Lake, Meenakunte Lake and Karigenhalli Lake.