Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 16: On the basis of the assurance of the government that it is committed to stick to the guidelines which may be stipulated by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the state high court (HC), which had ordered suspension of all smart city project work, on Monday March 15, permitted to go ahead with these works.

A public interest litigation filed by Karnataka Legal Services Authority relating to the miseries heaped by the landslide suffered at the garbage landfill site at Pachanady that had devastated Kudupu, Pachanady and Mandara areas, came up for consideration on Monday before the division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice A S Oka and Justice Sooraj Govindaraj.

State advocate general, Prabhulinga Navadagi, who appeared in the high court on behalf of Mangaluru Smart City Project Ltd, assured the bench that the company is committed to conform to the standard operating procedure and guidelines as set by NEERI when undertaking building and other construction works under the said project. He also furnished an affidavit executed by Mangaluru Smart City Project Ltd managing director, Prashanth Kumar Mishra.

The high court said that it is allowing to continue the suspended works based on the assurances made by the state government and the Mangaluru Smart City Project to stick to the guidelines of NEERI. It upheld an interim application moved by the company seeking permission to start the works that have stopped. It asked the company to furnish details of the decisions taken at the board of directors meeting of the company, before adjourning the hearing to March 30.