Karnataka High Court halts on-ground work for Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project

Key facts

• The Karnataka High Court directed that no work or activities related to the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project and Kalkatte Bridge construction be carried out in the forest without the court’s permission.
• A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha passed the interim order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Akhilesh Chipli, Ravindranath Shanbhogue, and Manohar Kumar CB.
• Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty stated that the petition was premature as the matter is with the National Wildlife Board and no approval has been granted to the project so far.
• Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinnappa, representing the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, contended that there is no impediment in Section 29 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, in carrying out non-forest activities in a sanctuary.
• The bench noted that the Sharavathi valley sanctuary was declared inter alia for preservation of lion-tailed macaques, and disruption of habitat of such endangered species would prima facie mitigate one of the principal purposes of declaring the sanctuary.