BENGALURU: Despite the High Court hearing the case of encroachment clearance and defining the boundaries of lakes, a case of violation has come to light.According to locals, activists and petitioners fighting cases on lake protection and videos on social media, a statue of Lord Shiva standing on a man-made island in the centre of Begur Lake off Hosur Road, which was earlier covered with tarpaulin, has now been unveiled — even as the next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Activists and petitioners said it is a violation of Karnataka High Court orders and National Green Tribunal orders, which directed to maintain water bodies, the MK Patil report, and environmental laws. The court, in its ongoing hearing, had directed the Palike to clear encroachments around the lakes and had said that small islands can be created in water bodies, to act as resting spaces for birds and other flora and fauna but not for human, commercial or any other purposes.
Adhering to the orders, while the BBMP had started work on clearing encroachments, the statue continued to be covered with tarpaulin and the corporation officials had sought time from the court to take action to remove it. Meanwhile, activists, allegedly belonging to right-wing organisations, have claimed that covering the statue located near the Lord Shiva temple, hurt their religious sentiments. They got the tarpaulin removed and have allegedly threatened government bodies not to remove the statue.
According to the petitioners, the case of Begur and other lakes, will come up for hearing on Wednesday (August 11) on case number 38401/ 2014. The court in PIL 817/2008 had directed the state government to survey all 40,000 lakes in Karnataka, define the no-development zones and fix boundaries, clear encroachments and rehabilitate people residing around the lakes.