BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the authorities not to proceed with the work of proposed National Highway-275 widening project affecting the Ranganathittu Bird and Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuaries in Srirangapatna of Mandya district. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty passed the order after hearing the public interest litigation filed by Dr H T Chandrashekar, former additional deputy commissioner from Mysuru, and Col C P Muthanna from Kodagu.
The bench said officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should not proceed with the work of proposed widening affecting both the sanctuaries, which are part of eco-sensitive zones.The petitioners stated that the NHAI issued notification in March 2020, proposing to extend the National Highway-275 passing at just an arm’s distance of the Ranganathittu Bird Santuary and intersecting the Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuary in Srirangapatna.
The highway leads to Kannur in Kerala through Virajpet in Kodagu district.Stating that the project will have an adverse impact on the sanctuaries, the petitioners have requested the court to protect their fundamental right to life as well as to protect their ancient heritage sites of Mysuru and Kodagu districts.