Hadiya’s Hindu father’s terror allegations are baseless: NIA

Bengaluru, Feb 4: Taking the state government to task, the Karnataka High Court on Monday opined there was a need to rehabilitate or compensate migrant workers whose homes in Tubarahalli and Kundalahalli were demolished by a BBMP engineer last month.

On January 19, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) assistant executive engineer at Marathahalli had taken up a demolition drive stating that the migrant workers residing in the area were “illegal Bangladeshis”.

A division bench led by Chief Justice Abhay S Oka was hearing a petition by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties which contended that the evacuation of the workers was illegal. Stressing the need for relief, the court directed the state government to come clean on its stance and adjourned the hearing to February 10.

Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadgi submitted that the Union government had issued a circular last year to ascertain the presence of illegal Bangaladesh migrants. “On the basis of this circular, the BBMP officials had written a letter to Marathahalli police sub-inspector on January 18. Based on this letter, the residents in huts were evicted in a civilised manner,” he stated.

The bench, however, differed with the submission. “Who identified them as Bangladeshis before the eviction? Which is the competent authority to do so? Which police officer took up the inquiry?” the bench questioned.

The court also asked whether the government would take up similar eviction drives against illegal buildings of the rich. It also expressed displeasure over the action taken against the BBMP engineer.

“Instead of sending him home, you say you have transferred him. We can’t be mute spectators,” the bench said.

The court did not mince words as it castigated the authorities for failing to act judiciously. “The police and the BBMP are blaming each other. Your action appears to be dangerous. Going by the state of things, it seems that everything is not in order,” it said.

Bengaluru, Feb 19: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa thanked his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for initiating action against those dumping bio-medical and bio-wastes in Karnataka's districts from neighboring state Kerala.

In a statement, he said, "First I would like to thank Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan for his prompt reaction and response to initiate legal action against the dumpers of bio-medical and bio-waste in our districts neighboring Kerala."

The Karnataka Chief Minister has taken a serious note of the reports in a section of media on alleged dumping of bio-medical waste and bio-waste by people from Kerala in bordering Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajnagar districts.

"I have directed deputy commissioners of concerned districts, environment department, and pollution control board to take stock of the situation and check surreptitious activities of individuals and agencies from Kerala who are indulging in this illegal activity. I have also directed the officials to prevent the use of this bio-medical waste by Jaggery units as fuel," Yediyurappa said.

He assured that soon this activity will be checked and ended.

Mangaluru, Mar 24: Seven people were arrested on Tuesday for violating prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of CrPC in Mangaluru during the lockdown in Karnataka, Commissioner of Police PS Harsha said.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday had announced a complete lockdown in the state till April 1.
"In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the entire state will be locked down from 12 am of March 23 to April 1. People are requested to strictly follow it to contain the coronavirus spread," he said.
Earlier, the state government had ordered the suspending of all public and private transport services.
According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases reached 482.