Karnataka government halts all anti-encroachment drives near lakes

The Karnataka State Cabinet on Thursday decided to stop the ongoing demolition drive across the state till Koliwad Committee submits the report on the encroachment of lake land.

In the Cabinet meet, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, decided to establish a special court to deal with cases related to encroachment of lake or tank land in the state. On October 28, speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, had constituted a house committee to inquire about the encroachment of lakes in and around Bangalore. The 11-member committee under the leadership of Congress MLA KB Koliwad was supposed to submit a report in three months, that is, by January 2015. However the report is yet to be submitted.

It was JD(S) which had raised the issue of encroachment of lakes in and around Bangalore in the Legislative Assembly last year and sought an inquiry on the money spent on the development of the lakes. JD(S) leader in the Assembly, HD Kumaraswamy had alleged that 1,039 acres of lake land had been encroached upon between 2006 and 2011 in the city and the market price of the land was estimated to be Rs 24,000 crore.

On May 6, the Karnataka Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi had directed the state government to defer the demolition drive against encroachment of the lake land in Bangalore till the matter is placed before the Cabinet.

The state cabinet’s decision to halt the ongoing demolition drive will bring much needed relief to the property owners at various layouts developed on lake land by the Bangalore Development Authority.

List of layouts under threat:

•  Banashankari 3rd State Layout

•  HAL 3rd Stage Layout

•  RMV II Stage Layout

•  HSR Layout

•  HSR 3rd Sector Layout

•  HBR Ist Stage Layout

•  East of NGEF Layout

•  HRBR 1st Block Layout

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