Karnataka government mulls policy to boost groundwater recharge
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Minor Irrigation and Science and Technology N S Boseraju on Wednesday said the state government is contemplating formulating a new policy aimed at enhancing groundwater recharge throughout the state.
The announcement was made during the inauguration of the three-day National Conference on Sustainable Groundwater Management for Water Security, organized by the Karnataka Science and Technology Academy.
Speaking at the event, Boseraju pointed to the decline in groundwater levels and attributed this trend to the escalating urbanisation and deforestation.
Emphasising the historical reliance on groundwater for industrial, agricultural, and domestic purposes, he said the depletion of this vital resource poses significant risks for future generations.
"The exploitation of groundwater is intensifying while efforts to recharge it are diminishing. The natural recharge processes are hampered by urban expansion. Immediate action is required to mitigate these effects, or our successors will suffer the consequences," Minister Boseraju was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.
Noting that the current drought has highlighted the need for water conservation and to prevent further groundwater exploitation, the Minister underscored the importance of implementing rainwater harvesting systems and promoting groundwater recharge.
He called for a collective effort to adopt sustainable practices and said the Directorate of Groundwater is actively considering a policy that would provide incentives for such initiatives.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also shown interest in this regard.
Boseraju also stressed the importance of raising awareness about advancements in groundwater management through national conferences and urged cooperation with relevant departments for effective implementation.
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Dileep case: Advocate representing survivor alleges Judge favoured actor
Thiruvanthapuram: A month after Malayalam film Actor Dileep was acquitted in the the case pertaining to abduction and rape of a famous Malayalam actress, Advocate T B Mini, the survivor's counsel in the case has accussed the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese of favouring Actor Dileep in her petition to the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, reported On Manorama.
In her petition(accessed by Onmanorama), Mini has sought contempt of court proceedings against Honey Varghese alleging that the trial court judge made derisive remarks about her, including claims that she would doze off during court proceedings and was lax in handling the actress assault case.
Mini, who described the comments as false, contemptuous and defamatory, alleged in her petition that Honey Varghese had unduly favoured Dileep, the actor and producer who was the eighth accused in the case.
In the verdict delivered in December last year, Judge Honey Varghese acquitted Dileep and three other accused while sentencing six convicts to imprisonment.
The ruling drew major uproar, while Mini had refrained from making any public remarks against the judge at the time, stating only that the verdict was disappointing, now she has levelled serious allegations against the judge as the High Court is set to begin hearing the bail pleas filed by the six convicts on February 4.
Furthermore, Mini has stated in her petition that since the very first stage of the trial, the Judge Honey Varghese passed derogatory remarks against the survivor and behaved discourteously towards the prosecution, which eventually led to the resignation of two Special Public Prosecutors. According to Mini, the undue favour shown by Honey Varghese to Dileep resulted in a serious miscarriage of justice and brought disrepute to the judicial system.
She stated in the petition that it was a regular practice of Honey Varghese to pass derogatory comments about the survivor as well as the prosecution witnesses.
Mini also alleged that on several occasions, the Special Public Prosecutor was compelled to remind the judge that such conduct was in violation of the Supreme Court’s directions.
Mini also questioned the manner in which Honey Varghese conducted the inquiry into the illegal access of the memory card containing visuals of the sexual assault.
The memory card, a vital piece of evidence kept in the custody of the Sessions Court, was unlawfully accessed and tampered with, leading to a change in its hash value.
According to the report, an examination by the State Forensic Science Laboratory found that the card had been accessed on January 9, 2018, December 13, 2018, and July 19, 2021, while it was under the safe custody of different courts.
Mini stated in the petition that the memory card was illegally accessed for nearly half an hour in July 2021 while it was in the custody of the court presided over by Honey Varghese.
After the survivor approached the High Court citing a breach of privacy, the HC directed Honey Varghese to conduct an inquiry. Mini alleged that the judge carried out only a perfunctory inquiry, in violation of the High Court’s directions.
Mini has sought legal action against Honey Varghese, stating that when a lawyer is defamed in open court through false allegations, the judge is liable to face proceedings before the High Court. She noted in the petition that although she had a very limited role in the trial as the survivor’s counsel, she regularly attended the proceedings from November 2022 onward.
