Filling It Artificially Will Save Animals, Say Officials | A Wrong Move: Experts

Bangalore: The government’s proposal to artificially replenish water holes in national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves has drawn flak from wildlife experts. The proposal was floated last month due to drought-like condition and water crisis in forest areas. In a letter to Dipak Sarmah, the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and chief wildlife warden, Karnataka forest department, the experts said it’s disastrous to have water tankers enter wildlife reserves

BDA, Govt Abusing Sec 14A: Plea

Bangalore: The Karnataka high court on Thursday directed the government not to grant permission for change of land use for properties situated in the metropolitan area of Bangalore city. “There shall be an interim order of stay of any further proceedings relating to change of land use under Section 14(A) of the KTCP in relation to properties within the metropolitan area of Bangalore city,’’ Justice Ram Mohan Reddy said in his interim order. This is in relation to a petition filed by CN Kumar, resident of Jayanagar, challenging section 14A of Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act (KTCP), 1961.

Bangalore: The high court on Wednesday directed all deputy commissioners and superintendents of police in the state to take action against illegal rearing, selling and transportation of banned fish.

A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice K Sreedhar Rao asked police to invoke Section 133 of Criminal Procedure Code and take stern action against illegal catfish rearing and to file a compliance report to the court within three months.

Bangalore: Karnataka is now home to 6,072 Asiatic elephants, 5,945 of which were spotted in the Mysore elephant reserve (MER) alone, according to the latest elephant census.

The Karnataka Elephant Census 2012, conducted by the state forest department in May last year and carried out by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, showed an increase in the state’s elephant population since 2010 when their number stood at 5,800.

Move May Run Into Citizens’ Resistance

Bangalore: Get set for allocating some space in your neighbourhood park or playground for the BBMP to set up its waste segregation unit.

Pushed to the wall over the way the garbage crisis has been handled, the civic body has turned to vacant spaces. “My target is to set up dry waste collection centres in all the 198 wards of Bangalore in 2-3 months’ time. The question is: where do we set them up? We have decided to take up portions of playgrounds and parks to establish these units. I’m aware there will be resistance, but we have no choice. There is no other land available for us,” BBMP commissioner Siddaiah told TOI on Thursday.

Teak, Oak Among Those Cut On Designated CA Site

Bangalore: Close to 3,000 fullgrown trees were cut down late last week on a 10-acre land on the outskirts of the city. Land is part of Plot No. 40, Doddanekkundi II Stage, near Whitefield. A neighbouring company, Bhoruka Steel Limited, which was involved in developing the land, is crying foul. It sees the move as an attempt to palm off a plot designated for civic amenities to another company.

Disease Claims 10 Cattle Two Months After Elephant’s Death On Bandipur Forest Fringes

Mysore: Anthrax scare has returned to haunt tiger reserves in the state after the death of 10 cattle heads on the fringes of Bandipur forest. Forest officials are perplexed as this comes just two months after anthrax claimed a 10-year-old tusker in Thalavadi range in Sathyamangalam forest bordering BRT tiger reserve in November last year.

Bangalore: The high court on Monday asked BBMP to provide details about the actual waste generated by Bangalore daily.

A special division bench of Justices N Kumar and BV Nagarathna directed the civic agency to assess garbage generated in the city from February 1 for a period of 30 days by weighing the waste at dumping yards and disposal sites. The court asked a representative each from the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation and the NGO sector to keep track of the exercise and affix their signatures on the daily recordings.

Civic Body Has To Identify Sites, Inform Centre

Bangalore: Here’s a fresh blow to the BBMP. The municipal body might soon have to face flak from the Centre. The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is all set to amend its existing rules to make it mandatory for all municipal bodies to identify sanitary landfill sites and inform the Centre about it.

Thereafter, they will have to dump their municipal waste at the identified landfill sites alone. “Throwing urban municipal waste wherever municipal bodies feel like will automatically come to a stop. This step is meant to encourage municipal bodies to follow a procedure and only dump garbage where they are allowed to,” Subba Rao, director, MoEF said on Monday.