BENGALURU: Dismissing an assurance by Mr K B Koliwad, head of the legislature committee on encroachment of lakes, that an interim report would be submitted within 15 days, JD (S) floor leader and member of the committee, H D Kumaraswamy, on Monday said he would stall such a move till those who encroached tank beds were brought to book.
Speaking to the media after meeting Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, who spoke up against the demolition drive, the former chief minister wondered how an interim report could be submitted when the committee was yet to commence its work. Besides, he warned that Bengaluru could wake up to another scam, where fake developers, after getting into agreement with agriculturists, were luring people to buy plots.
On the issue of encroachment of lakes, Mr Kumaraswamy said the committee had asked the government to stop demolition till its report was submitted to the state government.
“I had suggested a road map for working of the committee, comprising 20 guidelines. We had asked the government to sanction around 300 surveyors and form 30 groups comprising officials from revenue, forest, BDA and other departments. After getting all the lakes mentioned in the land records surveyed, we wanted to go ahead and form an opinion.
However, the government has not appointed even a single surveyor. When I sought details about lakes with the help of RTI, the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru said I could directly get the information from the minister concerned as I am a legislator,” he said.
“I brought it to the notice of Speaker and he asked me to move a privilege motion against the officer,” he added. He charged that even BDA has encroached upon tank bed and officials have played major role in it. At Linganahalli lake, sites were allotted in 1985 and the BDA ratified the acquisition in 1993.
“Now, action is being taken against innocent purchasers. The government has not yet booked even a single builder or encroacher. Unless the government starts listing these people, there is no need to take up demolition. These buildings will be there even after five years,” he added.
He recalled that the government had recovered 361 acres and handed it over to BDA. The BDA should form a layout in that area and allot them on priority basis to people who fell victims and purchased sites on encroached land.
