Encroachers above law of land

Encroachers above law of land
Govt Cannot File Case As There Is No Provision In Revenue Act
The Times of India

Bangalore: What does the government do after it recovers its land from landgrabbers? Nothing. The property is fenced; the encroachers go scot-free. Reason: Under the Land Revenue Act, the government has no provision to nail the landgrabbers, not even to file a criminal case.

In an ongoing survey by the revenue department, in Bangalore alone, under BMP, BDA and CMC areas, of the 21,000 acres surveyed nearly 2,179 acres have been encroached upon. In the BMRDA jurisdiction, of the 16,000 acres surveyed, 2,000 acres have encroachments, officials in the department told The Times of India.

The government has recovered merely 700 acres, where encroachments have been removed and possession of the property taken. These encroachments are residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial sheds and educational institutions.

The Land Revenue Act provides for only eviction of encroachers and not punish them. Hence, an amendment has been suggested to provide for filing criminal cases against the landgrabbers. The proposal is with the law department.

The joint House committee of the legislature formed to survey land encroachments in and around Bangalore has asked the citizens to inform the committee about violations. Committee chairman MLA A T Ramaswamy told reporters on Wednesday that the committee would survey the encroachments, identify landgrabbers and officials involved in the act and suggest punitive action.

The committee comprising 19 members of both Houses of the legislature will carry out the survey in Bangalore North, Bangalore North (Additional), Bangalore South, Bangalore East and Anekal taluks. Retired bureaucrats, V Balasubramanian and P S Nagarajan, have been appointed as consultants.

People can inform the committee about encroachments before August end by email: atramaswamy@yahoo.co.in or baluvenkat41@yahoo.co.in. Call 22258580 or fax 22258301. Write to the chairman, joint house committee, room number 1212, I floor, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore.

WHO HAS WHAT
l 6,909 villages in five taluks of Bangalore with an area of 2,190 sq km to be surveyed. l Total land is 5.47 lakh acres of which 57,606 acres belongs to government. l There are 390 lakes in BDA jurisdiction of which 114 is with the Lake Development Authority. l LDA spends Rs 12 crore annually to maintain the lakes but the task is ineffective as the lakes have become dumping ground.