Agara SEZ Project

The State Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment has assured that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority will be reconstituted within a month and clearances given to the mixed development project coming up between the Bellandur and Agara lakes would be reviewed. The assurance was given in the meeting conducted by Upa Lokayukta, Subhash Adi on Friday January 17th 2014. The Member Secretary of Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment, Ramachandran who was also a part of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, was summoned to the meeting, to investigate the alleged irregularities by Mantri Developers on the land between…

Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board has issued an order instructing M/s Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd / M/s Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd to stop the construction of the Special Economic Zone, residential and commercial buildings coming up on 72 acres of land that lies between Bellandur and Agara lakes, in South Bengaluru. Post the Upa Lokayukta’s comments on Mantri SEZ in a meeting held on December 20, 2013, KIADB’s 327th Board Meeting discussed the matter and passed an order directing Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd to stop the construction with immediate effect. According to the minutes of the KIADB Board meeting, the…

  Construction work on Bellandur wetlands continues unabated. Pic: Nikita Malusare Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike issued an order to M/s Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd. (Mantri Techzone Private Limited) directing the latter to stop the construction of the 72-acre project coming up on the wetland between Agara and Bellandur lakes in Bengaluru. This order comes after the Karnataka Upa Lokayukta rapped BBMP on the continuance of construction activities in spite of the lack of proper approvals from BBMP. The order, from the BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayan, a copy of which with Citizen Matters, directed the Bommanahalli Zonal Joint Commissioner to act immediately to…

Construction activities continue to encroach the drain that goes to Bellandur lake. Pic: Nikita Malusare The High Court of Karnataka on Monday, October 21, 2013, accepted the Public Interest Litigation against the Mantri developers and Coremind Software and Services along with other nine government departments. A bench comprising Justice K L Manjunath and Justice H S Kempanna directed that the defendants be served notices. Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen Action Forum along with many resident welfare associations in and around Agara lake in south Bengaluru had filed a Public Interest Litigation (Writ Petition 36574/ 2013) on the Special Economic Zone…

Construction activities continue to encroach the drain coming from Madivala valley that leads to Bellandur lake. Pic: Nikita Malusare There seems to be no end to controversies surrounding the Bellandur SEZ project opposite Agara Lake near Koramangala, Bengaluru. Karnataka’s Lake Development Authority (LDA), which conducted an inspection recently following media reports, has asked KIADB to stop construction activities on Bellandur lake catchment area by Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd. The LDA is a governmental body working for the regeneration and conservation of lakes in and around Bangalore city within BMRDA jurisdiction. Based on the report of the inspection held on June…

Number of Bengaluru-based citizens groups and NGOs have filed a writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka against government authorities and private firms over the Bellandur-Agara Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project. The SEZ project, which is being built in a sensiive area between Bellandur and Agara lake, has been in the news recently on questions over environmental and water clearances.  Citizen Matters is awaiting further details regarding first proceedings of the case. We will run a detailed report when we get more details.   

Citizens of Koramangala, HSR Layout and Bellandur areas have come together under an umbrella group called South-East Bangalore Forum for Sustainable Development, to oppose the massive 72-acre IT SEZ project by Manipal ETA Infotech, near Agara Lake. 27 RWAs representing over 25,000 residents have joined hands and written to Traffic police, BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, Karnataka Udyog Mitra, KIADB, Lake Development Authority, and industry bodies like CII, CREDAI and Nasscom. Citizen Action Forum, a pan-Bangalore federation of over 70 RWAs, has also come forward to support the campaign. The ongoing construction at the area between Bellandur and Agara lakes Pic: Kedar…

In Part I and Part II of the series, Citizen Matters had explained how the Manipal ETA Infotech is constructing a multi-crore project near Agara lake, consuming the wetland and lake drain, and how the authorities like Ministry of Environment and Forests have approved the project. Part III explains the traffic-related problems the project has brought in. Studies - including those submitted by the builder - show that the Sarjapur Road is going to be completely choked once the project by Manipal ETA Infotech comes up. The project will have parking facility for over 14,400 vehicles. The entire complex is…

In Part I of this series, Citizen Matters blew the lid off the IISc report that revealed the encroachment of a major Rajakaluve by the SEZ project by Manipal ETA Infotech Pvt Ltd. This part will explain the random changes made by the BDA in the status of the project land, resulting in a change of status, from being a ‘valley zone' to an industrial area. The site has seen some rapid changes in the last decade. In ‘95, BDA had classified this land as largely residential and park area. In 2005, BDA started revising its master plan. In the…

Citizen Matters had earlier reported about a 72-acre SEZ-cum-township coming up in Agara village, near Koramangala 1st block. The project, named Manipal ETA Infotech, had got approval saying that BWSSB will meet its water needs. Citizen Matters had exposed that BWSSB’s NOC (No Objection Certificate) was only for a tiny area of the project, even though NOC is compulsory for the entire area. Also, the BWSSB said it did not even know about the project in its full size. The project site. Pic: Meera K. The project is a joint venture between Mantri Developers and Century Real Estate, with Century…