Karnataka cabinet decides on acquiring Palace Grounds land for road widening
Bengaluru, Mar 14: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided that it will require the Palace Grounds land for road widening purposes, ahead of a contempt case regarding the matter coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court.
The cabinet also decided to give Transferable Development Rights (TDR) against the acquisition of land, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told reporters.
According to the minister, the apex court has sought the personal presence of Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary in the Urban Development Department and the Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the urban local body governing Bengaluru city.
He said that in 2006, the Karnataka government had decided to acquire 15.5 acres of Palace Grounds near Mekhri Circle for road widening.
Accordingly a compound wall was built inside the Palace Grounds, but the previous BJP government decided that it did not require it.
The Mysuru Royal family approached the Supreme Court against the government decision saying that in 2006-07 the compound wall was built inside the palace grounds for acquisition of land, but now they do not need it for road widening.
"The SC converted the case into a contempt of court case. Since the land has been acquired, compensation has to be paid. The Court directed the government to come to a conclusion if the land was required or not," Gowda said.
The minister said that in 1996, Karnataka government through a law declared the Palace Grounds as a park and open space. The law was upheld by the High Court.
However, the Mysuru Royal family filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the Act, which ordered a status quo, he explained.
Gowda said the CM on Thursday sought to know why the matter was continuing as a status quo.
"The Chief Minister said the government did not fight the case strongly. He even asked them to hire good lawyers to present our original suit. Once the original suit is resolved, all the other cases will be disposed of," the minister said.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
