Bengaluru, May 22 (2025): Farmers of Mandya district have moved the Karnataka High Court against the state government’s decision to transform Brindavan Garden at the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam into a Disneyland-like space. Their public interest litigation alleged that the project is detrimental to the farming community.
A vacation division bench of Justices BM Shyam Prasad and KV Aravind issued notices to various authorities of the state and central governments, including the Jal Shakti ministry, National Dam Authority, state chief secretary, water resources, agriculture, forest and ecology departments, Kaveri Neeravari Nigam Ltd and other authorities of Mandya district.
This was after they heard the petition filed by K Boraiah and four others from KRS village and other surrounding villages, questioning the tenders issued to set up the amusement park in the name of Brindavan Garden Upgradation without statutory clearance, including from the gram panchayat. The government’s decision is contrary to Articles 48-A and 53A of the constitution, Karnataka Forest Act, Environmental Protection Act 1986, and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, they said.
The petitioners stated that by establishing such non-agricultural commercial activity with estimated visitors nearing 10,000 per day along with vehicular movement will create an irreparable damage to agricultural lands. These activities will pollute water and eventually cause a total damage to the environment. The entire area being protected and secured, such activities cannot be permitted. As per experts, the dam is 120 years old and this has not been taken into consideration by authorities, they alleged.
The first notification was issued on September 9, 2024, and the third notification on March 15, 2025. The urgency for the writ petition is the arbitrary decision taken on May 13, 2025, calling for a tender for the Rs 2,663 crore project, in addition to the Cauvery aarati event at Rs 100 crore. They requested the court to stay the tender.
The petitioners stated that they have assailed the arbitrary and hasty decisions taken by the state government and Karnataka Neeravari Nigam, unmindful of the disastrous effect on the agrarian sector, to establish and develop an amusement park. The next hearing will be on June 9.
Source: The New Indian Express
