Karnataka High Court Prohibits Mining With Explsovies Around KRS Dam, Directs Scientific Study To Be Conducted For Determining Feasibility

The Karnataka High Court on Monday prohibited any form of quarrying and mining activity within a 20-kilometre radius of Krishnaraja Sagara dam, popularly known as KRS dam, till further orders by the court.

A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said “We deem it appropriate to prohibit any form of quarrying activities from 20 Km of KRS, till further orders.”

It added “This order is made regardless of the earlier permission granted by this court. We state that permission granted in the earlier round of litigations this very aspect, namely the Act (Dam Safety Act, 2021) being in force was unfortunately not brought to the notice of the court and as this aspect itself is having a predominant effect on the matter, we deem it appropriate to pass this order.”

The court emphasized on the importance of Krishnaraja Sagara not only as a dam but for having a heritage and historical value attached to it, in being constructed by one of the greatest son of the country, Sir M. Visvesvaraya the Chief architect of the dam.

It further said that the Court was constrained to pass orders to protect the dam from any activity endangering it since it was a result of the "visionary contribution of the then Maharaja of Mysore Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and the project that is Krishnaraja Sagara being described in literary work as a creation of the blood and sweat of people of Karnataka."

Further, the bench directed the state government to give wide publicity to the order, through all modes such as print and electronic media and urged the District Administration and the mining department to work in tandem and pass appropriate orders through their departments to achieve the effect of the order passed by the court.

These observations were made in a plea filed by one C.G. Kumar who wanted to carry out quarrying activities on his land and approached the court questioning the order of the Deputy Commissioner, Mandya District which imposed an 'additional condition' precedent for permitting the petitioner to convert the agricultural land for non-agricultural use.

The condition stipulated that the petitioner would be bound to obey the decision that may be taken by the competent authority on receipt of a trial blasting report conducted by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama.

It was ordered that the petitioner would not be permitted to use the land for non-agricultural purposes till the trial blasting was conducted and that the order would take effect only after being approved by the competent authority. 

The court had vide its order dated 10-10-2023 appointed Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi as amicus curiae in the case since it was of the opinion that serious questions relating to the safety of the Dam in question were involved. 

The court in its order recorded that a scientific study would need to be conducted on the dam on an experimental basis, which may take six months or more. 

It also rejected permission for carrying on mining activity in the dam till the study was conducted and permitted activities which would be carried out without blasting.

It concluded: “considering the fact that any damage to the KRS dam would be a disaster not only in the area near KRS dam but it will be a disaster for the entire State of Karnataka and other stakeholders. We deem it appropriate to pass an order prohibiting any quarrying activity within the radius of 20 Km from KRS dam, till further orders.”

Appearance: Advocate LAKAMAPURMATH CHIDANANDAYYA for petitioner.

Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi

AGA S.S.Mahendra for respondents.

Case Title: C G Kumar AND State of Karnataka

Case No: WP 19835/2023