Yettinahole project: Supreme court investigation from today

Team Udayavani, Sep 5, 2019, 1:16 PM IST

Mangaluru: The legal fight against Yettinahole water project which has caused much fear of losing Netravati river which is the lifeline of Karavali, has reached the steps of the supreme Court and the investigation regarding the same will begin on Thursday.

The two applications submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by environmentalists against the Yettinahole project was dismissed by the tribunal in May. Questioning NGT’s decision, environmentalist K N Somashekhar put up a higher appeal to the Supreme Court about a month ago. The bench which accepted the investigation of this issue started the inquiry on Thursday. With this, an important legal fight against the Yettinahole prohect which will cause major damage to the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats begins at the country’s highest Court, the Supreme Court.

Somashekhar and Sakleshpur lawyer Kishore Kumar had submitted an application to the NGT questioning the clearance given for the deforestation to be carried out for the Yettinahole project. However, NGT dismissed the application as well as the higher appeal three months back by passing out an order stating that, since the project is concerning the provision of drinking water, any objection would not be considered. Questioning this judgment by the NGT, the applicants went to the Supreme Court.

The applicant K N Somashekhar spoke with ‘Udayavani’ regarding the issue and said, “We had submitted a higher appeal to the Supreme court questioning NGT’s judgment and its investigation begins on Thursday. In the backdrop of not having received the required judgment from NGT, the issue is being questioned at in the Supreme Court. The legal fight against the damage being caused to the Western Ghats through the Yettinahole project and the secrecy behind the project , will be conducted in the Supreme Court,” he informed.