BENGALURU: There has been a lukewarm response to the notices sent to lake encroachers, both government and private, asking them to give replies on the violations, said K.B. Koliwad, chairman of a legislature committee on encroachment of lake beds.
Speaking to reporters after the third review meeting with the revenue officials on Tuesday, Mr Koliwad extended the deadline for replies from encroachers from February 29 to March 31.
Encroachment of Kenchenahalli and Pantarapalya lake came to the notice of the committee after the survey was completed. It is the duty of respective revenue authorities to ensure that the lake is not encroached upon, he said.
In the Bengaluru Rural jurisdiction, of the 710 lakes, portions of 335 lakes have been encroached upon by different government agencies. Only the University of Agriculture Sciences has sent its replies to the notice. Of the 7,618 private encroachers, only 341 people have replied. As far as urban areas are concerned, of 975 government agencies involved, only eight have replied and of the 4,247 private encroachers only 2,693 have replied, he said. Government agencies have encroached upon 2194 acres, while private parties 2,340 acres of lake land, he said.
If the encroachers do not file replies within the deadline, the committee will take appropriate action after a final reminder from the Rural and Urban deputy commissioners, he said. The replies received by the tahsildars will be scrutinised by a committees headed by assistant commissioners. Tahsildars are only the receiving authority, he said.
Survey of Raja Kaluves in 45 days
To prevent the recent Chennai-like floods, encroachments on Raja Kaluves should be cleared mercilessly, said Mr Koliwad. He directed the BBMP and survey authorities to conduct a survey of the entire network within one-and-a-half months. The city has a network of 1,088 km of Raja Kaluves, of which 596 kmshave been surveyed. Most of the surveyed areas fall within the periphery of the city, he said.
