Demolition drive set to clear storm water drains

Demolition drive set to clear storm water drains

Avanish Tiwary. bangalore



The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has stared a demolition drive to clear illegal encroachments on storm water drains near Katriguppe on Thursday. Out of 46 identified illegal buildings, ten residential structures were cleared on the first day.
The Palike demolition process was started at 9 in the morning, and continued till 6 in the evening. The BBMP had sought police help to deal with protesters who might block progress on the work.
"The BBMP has not issued any prior notices to us. If our houses were illegal, why did the BBMP collect property tax from us? We struggled to build these houses.Where will we go now?" asked one resident.
The BBMP authorities said that they had identified several illegal encroachments on storm water drains of Vrushbhavathi river that runs through Katriguppe, Ittamad and Terrace Garden Layout.
The illegal buildings were identified on the basis of a survey conducted 15 days prior to the demolition drive, said Srikante Gowda, executive engineer, BBMP.
He added, "Clearance activities at Katriguppe will take six more days. After that we will clear the encroachments at Thimmarayagowda Badawane. We have identified 32 illegal buildings there. The whole demolition drive will take at least one month to get over."