On the eve of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party taking out a padayatra from Bidadi against the Bidadi Township Project, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has ordered a committee led by a former High Court Chief Justice to re-examine the project. The committee has been given 30 days to submit its report.

The committee will be led by Guhanathan Narendar, a former judge of the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh High Courts and a former Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. It will have former Karnataka Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath, two former IAS officers from the State S.R. Umashankar and Prasanna Kumar as members.

Following intense protests by farmers, Mr. Shivakumar had recently announced that nobody will be forced to give up their land and that a committee will be formed to re-examine the project.

A statement from the CMO on Saturday said the committee will submit its report examining the project from legal, humanitarian and holistic development perspectives.

The CMO further said the government had revived the project, first proposed in 2006, following demand for investment near Bengaluru. “The government intends to further improvise this project, by respecting all points of view and taking everyone along. It is in this context that the committee has been formed,” the CMO said.

Published - August 08, 2026 09:05 pm IST