Law to punish lake encroachers soon

Law to punish lake encroachers

VijayTimes News

Bangalore: Water Resources and Transport Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said on Monday that the State Government had decided to introduce a new law to punish people who encroached upon lakes in the State.

Speaking at a programme organised by the 'Jalasamvardhana Yojana Sangha', Kharge said: "If the Acts under minor irrigation or revenue departments do not support the new law, the ministry will hold discussions with Panchayat Raj, Revenue and Law departments to draft a suitable law for the prosecution." He also said that the new law would include measures to retrieve the encroached lakes.

Kharge asserted that there were more than 30,000 lakes in the State and the department had been directed to report on the number of lakes that had been encroached upon. Executive director of the Sangha Dr P Bore Gowda said most of the 285 cases of encroachment of lakes had been settled by the active involvement of the local people.
Kharge also announced that a new project for upgrading the feeder channels to the lakes would be taken up to preserve water in them throughout the year.

However, this scheme was not likely to be applicable to the lakes coming under Cauvery river basin.