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.