Bengaluru: The next time land sharks think of encroaching on lakes in city, they will have to think twice. In a bid to protect lakes in and around Bengaluru, the state government has decided to book lake encroachers under the Goonda Act.
Home Minister K.J. George told Deccan Chronicle that such a stringent measure was required to deal with land sharks who have not only encroached on lakes in Bengaluru but also formed sites and sold them to the public.
Mr George said law and parliamentary minister T.B. Jayachandra was planning to amend the existing rules to make them more effective. A criminal case would be registered against violators besides holding them responsible for the monetary loss caused to gullible citizens.
The government is waiting for the interim report by the House committee on lake encroachments headed by chairman K.B. Koliwad, which is expected on June 9 before formulating its next course of action.
The committee is likely to give a list of suggestions including the action to be taken against realtors who encroached on lakes and sold sites to people. It is also likely to suggest the line of action with regard to the prestigious Dollar’s Colony in city where houses have been built in a BDA layout developed on a lake bed.
According to a senior revenue department officer, the government has decided to make public the list of peoples who had developed private layouts by encroaching tank areas and also the names of officers who helped land sharks gobble up lake areas. Law minister T.B. Jayachandra had directed Bangalore urban district deputy commissioner to dig out the names of encroachers as well as errant officers belonging to various government departments. The list would be out soon.
