Karnataka: Ministry seeks report after NGO flags violations in NH 169 widening
Bengaluru: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has directed the Karnataka state government to investigate allegations of legal violations in the widening of National Highway 169 (NH 169), which passes through the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary.
The complaint, filed by Shivamogga-based NGO Green Lives, claims that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) misled the forest department by asserting that no wildlife sanctuary or ESZ falls within the highway’s widening alignment. However, according to the ESZ notification for Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, approximately a 4-kilometer stretch of the highway lies within the ESZ, as reported by Deccan Herald on Monday.
In February, the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) in Shivamogga inspected the site and reported that the road widening between chainage 15.98 km and 26.69 km involves the use of both forest and non-forest areas. The stretch from 26.7 km to 30.75 km inside the ESZ involves only resurfacing of the road.
The NGO alleges that NHAI started work without applying for permission from ESZ monitoring committee. They said while the DCF report said the NHAI was “resurfacing” the road, the before and after photos show soil excavation of “thousands of loads” for road strengthening, the report added.
“The user agency has expressly admitted that work was undertaken within the ESZ. Despite this clear admission, the committee proceeded to accept the road widening proposal and granted permission with certain conditions - conditions that have already been violated,” it said.
Responding to these concerns, Kudremukh Wildlife Division DCF Sivaram Babu said the decisions were taken as per the rule. “Decisions in this matter were taken by the monitoring committee headed by the regional commissioner,” DH quoted Babu as saying.
Meanwhile, the NGO has urged the Union ministry to reject the NHAI’s road widening proposal.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
