Any effort to divert the west-flowing Netravathi River to eastern parts of Karnataka will have economical, cultural and ecological impact, according to an expert.

The High Court on Monday disposed of a petition against the ongoing Upper Bhadra project to supply water to Kolar and Tumkur districts.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna directed that the petition by Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and others be transferred to the National Green tribunal (NGT).

Forest department helpless in checking jumbos straying out

Frequent transfer of officers posted to Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and, increasing human habitat has made the Forest department helpless in checking the growing man-animal conflict. This has resulted in elephants straying out of the forests in the region, wildlife experts opine.

Elephants have been wandering in Kolar and Bangalore Rural districts. The number of people killed by elephants in the villages of the region since Saturday has risen to four.

Karnataka will soon take up the Yettinahole project to provide drinking water to Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Tumkur and Chikkaballapur districts shortly.

An innovation in dryland farming has brought in much-needed relief to Karnataka’s sagging agriculture sector.

The sweltering summer heat has aggravated the problem of drinking water supply in most parts of the State, prompting the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR) to seek the permission of Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (OCEO), Karnataka, to implement approved action plans related to drinking water at the panchayat-level.

Besides, the Revenue department has recently issued a circular stating that water in major reservoirs should be used only for drinking purpose.

The High Court on Wednesday stayed work on the Upper Bhadra project taken up in the forested areas of the Bhadra tiger reserve without obtaining clearance from the Union government.

Hearing a petition filed by the State unit of Bharatiya Kissan Sangha and others, the Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice K Sreedhar Rao and Justice Abdul Nazeer has granted an interim stay on the construction within the forest area till necessary clearance can be obtained from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Only 50 of the 1.72 lakh borewells in City registered with KGA

Two months have passed since the State government issued a notification, making registration of all borewells and permission for sinking of new borewells mandatory in the State. However, so far only 25 drilling agencies in the State and just over 80 households in the City have registered with the Karnataka Groundwater Authority (KGA). The government notification called for compulsory registration under the Karnataka Groundwater (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011, wherein every existing user of groundwater in the notified area has to register within a period of 120 days from December 3, 2012.

Residents of villages near Khaparkheda and Koradi power plants, under the aegis of Kisan Manch, have lodged one more police complaint against officials of the two plants of Mahagenco for excessive