Expressing concern over the mining blasts hitting the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) dam in Srirangapatna, Mandya, the Karnataka High Court on Monday imposed a ban on mining and blasting activities within a 20 km radius of the structure.
The ban imposed on Monday will remain in force until the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, conducts a safety study on the dam. However, the HC has not set any deadline for the investigation to be conducted under the Dam Safety Act, 2022.
The HC had earlier made the State Committee for Dam Safety (SCDS) a party to the petition.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit was hearing a petition filed by one CG Kumar who had challenged the Deputy Commissioner's order that conversion of land for stone mining would be allowed only after a test blast was carried out by the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited. Kumar had challenged this condition as illegal.
However, the petition was converted into a public interest litigation (PIL) by the HC considering the seriousness of the issue and concerns over damage to the KRS dam due to mining activities around it.
The HC noted that three states were fighting over the waters of the Cauvery river, but no one was concerned about the safety of the KRS dam. Any untoward incident would have unimaginable consequences for the entire state, the HC said while imposing the ban.
During an earlier hearing on the petition, the Supreme Court had taken note of the seriousness of the issue and in its order said: According to the official information, the Krishnarajasagara reservoir supplies water for irrigation of about 1,25,000 hectares of land in the arid area. traces of Mandya district.
“Whether the blasting activities commonly undertaken during quarry operations have potential impacts on the KRS Dam needs to be investigated, regardless of who is the competent authority to determine these types of disputed conditions,” the report said.
The court warned that “a small mistake can result in a colossal danger. The case raises serious questions regarding the safety of the dam in question, in light of the provisions of the 2021 Act.
Citing the importance of the dam, the HC said: It hardly needs to be said that the KRS Dam was built as an engineering marvel during the period between 1911 and 1932 under the able guidance of the Master Architect and Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya; it was a dream and vision of the great Maharaja of Mysore Sri Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The said dam has profitably changed the irrigation map of the state.
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First print: January 8, 2024 | 8:00 pm IST