Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding construction of a sewer line along a 600-metre stretch of the Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake Bird Conservation Reserve, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 02/05/2025
Order of the National Green Tribunal (Southern Zone, Chennai) in the matter of Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust Vs State of Karnataka & Others dated 02/05/2025.
Pursuant to the tribunal order dated April 24, 2025, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) informed the court that as per the decision taken by the Committee headed by the Chairman – BWSSB, it has been proposed to collect the sewage that is being generated in the upstream through a network of underground lines which will be outside the Rajakaluve from Athur lake to the point where it drains into the Puttenahalli lake and in the stretches where a walkway has already been constructed, the underground sewer line is proposed beneath the walkway.
Instead of manholes, the sewer lines will be provided with machine holes that will not let any sewage spill over outside the sewer line, even if it is submerged. It was also explained that, in this particular stretch, there is a natural slope and construction of buildings in the private layouts has commenced just on the border of the walkway. As a result, the proposed sewer line for a stretch of 600 meters has to be positioned only underneath the existing walkway, which is in the land classified as ‘tank’.
For the query of the tribunal as to why cannot a collection tank be constructed and sewage pumped by laying a sewer line outside the proposed area, it was categorically stated that there is no land and only as a compulsion, the said alignment has been chosen, which falls within the survey number classified as ‘tank’, but where the walkway has been laid long back. Therefore, they have requested that in order to ensure that sewage does not enter into Puttenahalli lake during the ensuing monsoon they have to be permitted to commence the work at once by modifying the order, wherein stay has been granted even against the construction of the sewer line in the impugned 600 Meter stretch.
The counsel for the applicant was asked to suggest if there was any alternate route. The alternate route proposed by them cuts the lake into two. It was fairly conceded by the applicant that there is no other option, except by cutting the lake into two.
During the hearing, a bench of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati keeping in view the urgency of the matter to ensure that sewage is not let into the Puttenahalli Bird Conservation Reserve and Lake, during ensuing monsoon, the order passed by the tribunal which stayed the construction of the sewer line in the 600 meter stretch is modified and the authorities are permitted to construct sewer line in the 600 meter stretch. The BWSSB should also ensure that the network of sewer lines proposed in the residential area are also completed and sewage does not enter the Rajakaluve. With reference to laying of hume pipes in the Rajakaluve, the stay order continues.
However, the court clarified that "the availability of alternate land will be examined in the main application and therefore, the BWSSB cannot claim equity for the canal proposed in the impugned stretch."