High Court to take up petition against Prestige’s bridge construction over Hennagara Lake

Bengaluru 

Even as lake activists are up in arms against construction of a bridge across the Hennagara Lake in Anekal taluk, a man has moved the Karnataka High Court (HC) seeking direction to stop the work. The HC has admitted that Writ Petition (WP) filed by H J Prasanna Kumar, former Zilla Panchayat member. The preliminary hearing will be conducted by a divisional bench on July 19. 

The bridge is being constructed by Prestige Acres Private Limited across the lake and the Minor Irrigation and Groundwater Development Department had approved the construction mentioning that the waterbody is a stormwater drain. The department conveniently did not mention the waterbody as a lake. The approval was given in the year 2024. Eversince activists have been raising voices against the same. 

The WP challenged the validity of a letter issued by this department on 26th June 2024, which the petitioner claims is unlawful, factually incorrect, and contradicts the objectives of the Government of Karnataka. The petitioners are urging the Court to declare this letter invalid and quash it, citing that it does not align with legal norms and is not supported by the facts at hand.

Furthermore, the petitioner has requested the HC to intervene in the matter of the Prestige, a private developer allegedly engaged in illegal developmental activities in the aforementioned villages. According to the petition, the developer has been conducting construction work without proper approvals. The petitioner has requested that the Court issue a Writ of Mandamus to prevent the Hennagara Gram Panchayat from issuing an occupancy certificate or e-Khata to the developer effectively halting the continuation of these  alleged unauthorised developments.

In addition to these demands, the petitioner has requested that the Court take appropriate action against the Principal Secretary, Department of Public Works, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban District and Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation and Groundwater Development Department.  

The petitioner has also made an interim prayer, asking the court to restrain the Prestige from further construction in the disputed area. This request is based on the belief that allowing the construction to proceed could further complicate the matter, and has requested that the court issue an immediate restraining order until the case is resolved.