Ordinance soon to check land grabbing

Ordinance soon to check land grabbing

The Hindu

Rising crime arising out of land disputes forces Government to act

BANGALORE: The State Cabinet, which met here on Friday, decided to promulgate an Ordinance to check land grabbing in and around Bangalore and other important cities of the State.

The Government sought to bring in amendments to the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, but because of urgency in tackling the increasing incidence of land grabbing, the Government has thought it fit to immediately bring in an Ordinance and follow it up with a law when the legislature is in session.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti told presspersons that the Cabinet took note of the findings of the Legislature Committee on Land Encroachments headed by A.T. Ramaswamy.

According to reports, nearly 10,000 acres of government land had been encroached upon around Bangalore alone and the authorities had to finalise ways to recover it.

In all, there were 21 lakh cases of encroachment in the State, and a major share of it was in Bangalore.

The Cabinet was of the view that promulgation of an Ordinance was a must in the light of the increasing number of assaults and murders arising out of land disputes. Under the proposed amendments to the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, the activities of land mafia would be viewed seriously and stern punishment meted out for such offences.