K'taka HC seeks response from Karnataka forest dept on speeding trains in Western Ghats region

Vartha Bharati | 21-03-2023 | 23:37:00 IST

Bengaluru, Mar 21: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the state forest department to submit a reply regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to limit the speed of trains on the Hospet-Vasco and Londa-Miraj routes during night time as it passes through dense forests of the Western Ghats.

The PIL filed by petitioner Giridhar Kulkarni came up for hearing before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi.

The court directed the Deputy Conservator of Forest, Belagavi, Haliyal and Dharwad divisions and the Director of the Kali Tiger Reserve to file their replies within two weeks.

The Union government has already filed its statement of objections claiming periodic meeting between railway officials and the forest department officials is being held.

The petition claims that despite directions by the Supreme Court to reduce the speed of trains passing through forests during night to avoid accidents involving wildlife, the trains on these routes continue to operate at high speed.

The petition claims that since 2014, deaths of 60 wild animals including two elephants, 49 Gaurs, five Sambar deer, one sloth bear, one wild dog, one wild pig and one deer, apart from reptiles and amphibians have been reported from these two railway lines.

"Failure of Railways to take necessary steps to avoid accidents of wild animals with trans despite several requests made, is in violation of precautionary principle and the principles of integrated equity and sustainable development upheld by the apex court in many cases," the petition stated, adding representations given to authorities over these issues have been ignored.

The petition also sought directions to the authorities to construct an alternate railway line between Belagavi and Dharwad, while abandoning these two existing lines.

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CM Siddaramaiah directs officials to remove ineligible BPL ration card holders

09-01-2025 ¦ 09-01-2025 IST

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru, Jan 9: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the ineligible BPL ration card holders who do not meet the criteria set by the central government should be identified and removed in a phased manner.

He, however, told the officials during a review meeting of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department that the card of a single eligible BPL cardholder should not be cancelled.

Ineligible BPL ration cardholders should be given time to voluntarily return their BPL cards, after which action should be taken to cancel the cards by giving notice to them, the Chief Minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.

Nearly 4,000 government employees have already been removed from the list, the statement said.

It said that there are 1,53,69,945 ration cards in the state, with 5,30,88,636 member beneficiaries.

It further said that Rs 4,692 crore grant has been released under the Annabhagya scheme direct cash transfer, and Rs 3,253 crore has been spent till the end of October. Over, 4.44 crore beneficiaries are benefiting from the scheme, which is one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress government.

Siddaramaiah also reviewed the status of petrol pumps in the state.

The Chief Minister’s office said there are a total of 4,518 petrol pumps in the state, and 503 petrol stations have been inspected till the end of December.

Siddaramaiah directed the officials that the inspection of petrol pumps should be increased and irregularities like fraud in measurement and quality should be completely curbed.

The CM also asked the officials to make arrangements to procure food grains at the minimum support price and steps should be taken to complete all the processes quickly so that farmers do not face any problems.

Under the One Nation One Ration Card scheme, 13,383 beneficiaries from other states are getting ration facilities in Karnataka.

Under the Anna-Suvidha Yojana, food grains are provided at the doorstep of single-person households above 80 years of age and 8,500 ration card holders are benefiting under the scheme, the statement said.

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