Justice Nagarathna: Bengaluru’s flooding is a man-made disaster | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Flooding in the city is not natural, it’s a man-made disaster, Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathana said as she flagged challenges faced by the judiciary in tackling the climate crisis.Criticising poor urban planning and rampant encroachments, the judge pointed out that Bengaluru, once known for interconnected lakes, is now suffering due to unchecked urban development that is disrupting the natural flow of water. “Half a day of rain and we’re using boats in Bengaluru—this is not normal. Earlier, when it rained, lakes acted as buffers. Now, water has no space to flow. Calling this a natural disaster is a way of othering nature and evading accountability,” Justice Nagarathna said at the silver jubilee celebrations of Karnataka Judicial Academy on Friday.The judge said: “The court’s responsibility to provide relief in environmental matters is increasingly challenged by climate change… Climate change poses several challenges—not just to a stable environment, but to human life itself… Existing laws do not require agencies granting clearances to consider a project’s contribution to climate change or its impact.”To address this gap, Justice Nagarathna proposed systemic reforms and urged the judiciary and legislature to integrate climate change assessments into policy-making and urban development plans. “We must have a box to tick for climate impact in every new project,” she said as she stressed on the empowerment of local bodies and the use of data-backed tools for better implementation of environmental laws.She made it clear that Bengaluru must rethink its approach to urban development by respecting ecological limits and adopting climate-sensitive governance to prevent further man-made disasters.
