The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has called for a public hearing on the project on August 18.
Representational image/PTI
The Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) has written to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to scrap the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, claiming that it was no longer legally valid. They have asked for a fresh scheme, which includes a new proposal, feasibility studies, alternatives and fresh budget approvals and public hearings, from authorities. Incidentally, the KSPCB is also holding a public consultation meeting on August 18 for the 65-km 8-lane roadways project connecting Tumakuru Road with Hosur Road, based on the same EIA report. CfB is a pan-city activist group, which was at the centre of ‘Steel Flyover Beda’ protests in 2016 and has been advocating measures to preserve and protect the green cover of the city. The PRR project is facing stiff opposition from a section of Bengalureans as it proposed to fell 33,838 trees including those in forest areas and affect many water bodies, as per the EIA made public recently. In their letter to KSPCB Chairman Vijaykumar Gogi, CfB said that the EIA and the public consultation should be scrapped as it was in violation of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act. Stating that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had changed its initial alignment, CfB argued that this technically will need fresh proposals and approval, citing Section 14(A) of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act.. In their letter, CfB said, “The BDA changed the alignment of the Peripheral Ring Road, hence rendering it a new project as per Karnataka Town & Country Planning Act. This voids the current EIA and calls not just for a fresh EIA but a new development proposal (scheme) to be drafted, including wide ranging public hearings, feasibility studies, alternatives and fresh budget approvals from the Government of Karnataka. It is at that stage that a new EIA is to be drafted, as per the Karnataka Town & Country Planning Act, Section 14(A).” It added, “The utility of public projects must be determined as specified by law, through the course of due process with its concomitant safeguards, and issues affecting the people of Bengaluru resolved before commencement. The current EIA is null and void and cannot be used to evaluate the new project.” In addition to this, as earlier opposed by other citizen groups, CfB has questioned the KSPCB for calling for a public hearing on the project on August 18, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They said, “The Government of Karnataka asking the public to congregate for a hearing on such a crucial project is downright unsafe and irresponsible. In fact, it is a violation of the Disaster Management Act which forbids the arrangement of congregations.”
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