Lake buffer zones: SC adjourns hearing

BENGALURU: Following a request from the Karnataka government seeking some more time to furnish records, the Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the final hearing of a petition against a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order on the dimension of the buffer zones to be maintained near lakes till January 15.

A civil petition was filed in the Court by the Karnataka government, Mantri Tech zone Pvt Ltd, Core Mind Software and Services Limited and 15 other private firms against an order issued by the Principal Court of the national green panel in New Delhi on buffer zones on May 4, 2016.

According to N R Suresh of Namma Bengaluru Foundation, the State Advocate General (AG) Uday Holla sought more time to produce records and information about the original classification of HSR Layout in older master plans for the city. The AG also wanted to produce proof to show it had been converted from residential to commercial.

The SC had ordered a buffer zone (where no construction can be carried out) from the edge of water bodies and not from the centre as had been observed all along. It also specified a buffer of 75 metres in case of lakes, up from the 30 metres it was earlier. It also mandated maintaining a buffer zone of 50 metres for primary, 35 metres for secondary and 25 metres for tertiary rajakaluves.