Disqualified MLA Byrathi Basavaraj says 'Ready to face DK Shivakumar'
Bengaluru: Disqualified MLA Byrathi Basavaraj while speaking to his followers and voters in K.R Puram on Tuesday said he was ready to face challenges by senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar.
He also accused Shivakumar of labelling false accusations against him in the assembly.
"They might have money and power and they might try to suppress us, but I am prepared for it", he said.
He assured his supporters that he would contest by-elections while adding that he has no plans of joining BJP.
Byrathi also said that former minister D.K Shivkumar hasn't done anything for the development of the region and challenged him to visit the region if he claims of any developmental work in the constituency.
When asked about BJP's horse trading tactics and if he was offered any money by the BJP, he said "These are all rumours, I swear on Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy I did not receive any money from any party" adding that the behaviour of the Congress leaders forced him to resign from the assembly.
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Suburban rail project: HC halts axing of 368 trees at Bengaluru Cantonment
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ordered that no trees should be cut or damaged on over eight acres of land near Cantonment Railway Station, where a suburban rail project has been proposed, The New Indian Express reported on Thursday.
The order was reportedly issued by a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha after hearing a PIL filed by former MLA AT Ramaswamy and three others. Notices were issued to the state government, central government, Karnataka Biodiversity Board and the tree officer.
Countering the apprehension expressed by the counsel for petitioners over the move to axe trees, the Additional Solicitor General of India (on behalf of the Centre), submitted that the state has rightly withdrawn the notification as it was issued without consulting the Centre.
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Also, the petition is premature as the application has been made to the tree officer seeking permission to cut trees for the suburban rail project on the land in question, he said.
The petitioners reportedly said the land is an old green space with 371 large trees and forms part of the Cantonment Railway Station area. They argued that a public notice was issued in April inviting objections to the plan to remove 368 trees for the suburban rail project.
The notice stated that the commercial development project will come up on the land measuring 34,856 sq mts, which has been leased to a private company.
They also pointed out that the state government had earlier decided to declare the area a biodiversity heritage site, but the notification was withdrawn in December without explanation.
They termed the decision atrocious and the reasons given absurd. The petitioners alleged that, “It is very clear that all is not well with the state, which has taken a retrograde decision, though it is a matter of grave concern, which will have an adverse impact on Bengaluru’s environment.”
