Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court Thursday ordered notice to the state govt and Karnataka State Biodiversity Board in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions for appropriate and necessary action to constitute Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at every local body across the state.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind also ordered notice to the chief executive officer of Tumakuru Zilla Panchayat in the petition filed by Ramesh Naik L, an advocate from Tumakuru.
According to the petitioner, section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the amending act 2023 provide that "every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee within its area for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity, including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity."
Hence, the non-existence of BMCs at any local body is a violation of Section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Article 48A under Part IV-Directive Principles of The Constitution of India imposes an obligation on the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Without the inclusion of local people under appropriate authority, i.e., BMCs, the object and purpose of Article 48A remain a mere direction, the petitioner further said, while seeking the intervention of the court in the matter.