For 11,595 lake encroachers in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts, February 29th is the deadline. They can submit their grievances or objections in response to the notices served to them by revenue officials, on encroachment. Though this date may be extended for a few more days, not much time is left for those who wish to communicate their version to the committees headed by tahsildars of respective taluks. This also gives a chance to those who have information on encroachments to share it with the committee.

A 11-member Committee of the Legislative Assembly headed by K B Koliwad, Ranebennur MLA and Legislative Assembly Committee chairman, had recently declared that prominent developers are major encroachers of tanks and tank beds in Bengaluru. The statement was based on a physical survey conducted by the Directorate of Survey, Settlement and Land Records in Karnataka. The Committee had also visited several lakes in the city and verified documents from BDA, BBMP and Lake Development Authority.

According to the survey by the Directorate of Survey, Settlement and Land Records:

Total encroachment in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts: 10,472 acres

Encroachment in Bengaluru Rural : 6,195 acres.

Encroachment in Bengaluru Urban is 4,277 acres.

Encroachment by private parties:  7,185 acres

Encroachment by government parties: 3,287 acres.

Encroachment in Bengaluru North : 1,171 acres – highest in Bengaluru Urban.

Encroachment in Hoskote:3,113 acres – highest in Bengaluru Rural

The committee has been issuing show-cause notices to the encroachers to give them a fair chance to submit their version.

Koliwad committee will prepare their final report based on inputs to the data that has been shared now. K B Koliwad informed Citizen Matters that as per the system of natural justice, the Committee decided to give an opportunity to the lake encroachers to submit their objections or grievances. Their responses will be examined and scrutinised by the committees headed by jurisdictional Assistant Commissioners.

The Committee, while verifying the claims made by encroachers, will also do spot inspections after March, if the need arises. Based on the reports submitted by ACs of various sub-divisions, the Legislative Committee will prepare the encroachment report and submit it to the legislature, along with recommendations, Koliwad said.

He added that the last date for responding to notices which has been currently set as February 29th, could be extended for a few days, as the government officials are now busy with panchayat elections and are unable to attend to the encroachment issue. People can also share information on encroachments, with the committee.

Some of the prominent private and government encroachers listed in the survey report are:

Private: Harmony Developers, Divyashree Tech Park, St Ann’s Junior College (KR Puram), Bagmane Developers, Garden City College Bhattarahalli, National College ground, NICE Road, Shobha Developers, SV Lake View Apartment, JSS High School, Prestige Group of Companies, SLN Public School, Aishwarya Apartment, Oberoi Group, Garden View Apartment, Adarsh Developers, Prestige Group, N D Developers apartments, Sriram apartments,

Government: KIADB, BBMP, Kempegowda Hospital and College, BDA, KSPCB, Slum Board, Education department (various government schools), Railway department, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd, Karnataka Housing Board, Forest Department, International Airport Authority (for Kempegowda International Airport), various road departments, Indian Oil Corporation, Horticulture Department, BMTC, DRDO.

The survey report with the list of encroachers is available here: http://www.kla.kar.nic.in/assembly/commhc3/bangalore_urban_rural_tanks_report_11012016.pdf or can be viewed below.

[embeddoc url=”https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2704057/Encroachments-in-Bangalore-Urban-and-Rural.pdf” download=”all”]

Encroachments in Bangalore Urban and Rural Districts 2014 2015 (PDF)

Encroachments in Bangalore Urban and Rural Districts 2014 2015 (Text)

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