Goonda Act answer to encroachers

Goonda Act answer to encroachers

The Asian Age

Bangalore, Dec. 21: The joint House committee on encroachment of government lands in and around the city—has suggested that the government should book encroachers under the Goonda Act besides setting up a permanent legal authority to prevent such happenings in future. According to the report, over 13,600 acres of government land was encroached upon and the value of these lands were estimated at over Rs 27,370 crore.

The committee headed by, A.T. Ramaswamy submitted its first report to Speaker, Krishna on Thursday. In the 90 page report, the committee has surprisingly not mentioned names of any individuals or companies. Asked to explain, Mr Ramaswamy said, "While giving department-wise reports next time, we would like to mention the names of individuals and companies involved in land encroachment."

Of the 13,600-odd acres of land, 9,294 acres worth Rs 18,588 crore belong to the revenue department alone, followed by the Bangalore Development Authority, whose land measuring 2878 acres worth Rs 5236 crore was encroached upon by the land mafia.

Mr Ramaswamy said the Speaker extended the term of the committee for another three months to complete the probe. The committee, constituted on June 17 this year, has held 19 meetings and visited 46 places in and around the city before preparing the report.

Describing Bangalore as the capital of land encroachment, Mr Ramaswamy observed that the Lake Authority had failed to protect the tanks and lakes as several tank beds were encroached upon even after its inception in early 2000. The committee also observed if the encroached upon lands belonging to temples run by the religious endowment department and the State Wakf Board, were recovered and given on lease, the revenue can help the government to maintain all temples and mosques in the state.