Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board culprit in Mantri illegality

BENGALURU: A key arm of the government, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) is said to have facilitated the encroachment of the wetland and sensitive zone that links Agara and Bellandur lake by Mantri builders, by acquiring the land and then allotting it to the real estate firm.

Paddy was traditionally cultivated by farmers on the wetlands that were gradually bought by middlemen who acquired it through getting a KIADB allotment, by allegedly using their clout with the government body. The move to get the land allotted to them through the KIADB was aimed at bypassing the BDA, which has stricter criteria on building in sensitive zones and would have meant that the builder may not have been able to circumvent the law.

Koramangala Resident Welfare Association member Nitin Sheshadri told Deccan Chronicle that KIADB allotted 63 acres of land to the builder, which helped him to avoid the need to get approval from the sensitive zone committee of BDA. Sheshadri also points out that the other illegality is the amalgamation of three acres of government land. The NGT has directed that all three acres of land should be handed over to the government immediately.