Govt Layout developed on tank bed

Govt Layout developed on tank bed
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Court orders and public resistance do not seem to deter land grabbers in the city. And when an entire layout comes up on a government tank bed replete with roads and other civic services, it seriously undermines the credibility of the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

The Chikkalasandra Lake (Survey no. 76 and 83) near Padmanabhanagar has been in controversy for more than a decade now. About 20 acre of this land has been declared government tank bed vide GO RRT(2)CR-5/03-04 annulling many property rights.

Another order issued by revenue department in June 2004 instructed the Special Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban, citing a High Court order that held the tank bed as government land, to take action on encroachers and report to the department before September.

Further, the forest department too, was asked to file a caveat before the High Court to prevent the encroachers from obtaining a stay.

The revenue department in the order sought to initiate disciplinary action on the revenue officers who failed to bring it to the notice of the department.

The public also was resisting this encroachment on the natural resource and had filed many complaints before the government and courts. But the construction activities continued on the tank bed. Strangely, the layout now is home to many government employees.

Has the city lost another lake? Or will the concerned departments act.