This was in response to the PIL filed by Environment Support Group, challenging the privatisation of management and rehabilitation of lakes in Bangalore.
In a significant development, the committee appointed under the chairmanship of Justice NK Patil, judge of the Karnataka High Court and chairman of High Court Legal Services Committee, has strongly recommended that private sector participation solely based on consequential commercial interest is not a desirable model. This was in response to the PIL filed by Environment Support Group, challenging the privatisation of management and rehabilitation of lakes in Bangalore.
The committee was constituted by the principal division bench of the high court to formulate a long-term plan to conserve lakes and involved top officials of nine agencies connected with lake management. This report was submitted to the high court principal bench and was comprehensively accepted according to its order of March 3, and implementation is being monitored quarterly by the court.
On the contentious policy relating to privatisation of lakes, the high court in its interim order of July 7 directed as follows: The committee can grant an opportunity of hearing to all interested parties, before the framework of the policy can be formulated. The committee is requested to frame separate parameters for private-public participation, in cases where private participation is without private commercial interests, as also, where the same is solely based on consequential commercial interest.”
Justice Patil’s Committee held five meetings thereafter to deliberate the nature of the policy that would be most suitable to the long-term sustenance of lake systems. After providing opportunities of hearing to all parties involved, it submitted its report before the high court on October 12. This report has comprehensively addressed the issues involved and made 10 recommendations, one of which explicitly states that commercial exploitation of any lake cannot be allowed under any circumstances.
To arrive at this recommendation, the committee has observed that the private entrepreneurs to whom the lakes have been handed over for maintenance have not been able to do justice to the ecology.
Ultimately, ‘profit motive’ has prevailed over the ‘public interest’ and ‘public trust.’ It has also observed that any model involving ‘private public participation’ wherein ‘dominion over the natural resource’ belonging to the state is handed over to a private entrepreneur either for rejuvenation or for management/maintenance, the same is likely to result in an anomalous situation requiring constant supervision by the state and its authorities to ensure that there is no deviation from the state policy and norms.
At times, it becomes extremely difficult for the state and its authorities to find a workable solution, which furthers public interest and prevents the private entrepreneur from making an unjust enrichment at the cost of the general public and natural resources, which belong to the state.
On such rationale proposing that “it becomes just and necessary that the participation of private sector in the rejuvenation and development of lakes and tanks in and around the city of Bangalore has to be highly discouraged if not eliminated.”
Submissions of this committee will be deliberated before the principal bench of the Karnataka High Court on November 3.
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