Bengluru: A four-year-old legal battle culminated on Thursday morning as the revenue department started one of its biggest drives clearing Sarakki Lake of its encroachments.The drive will take 10 days to complete. Land worth more than Rs. 2000 crore being recovered.
Multiple surveys of the lake area had shown that 34 acres of the 84 acres of the lake area, has been encroached by private layouts and other establishments. Thirty-four acres spread across three villages Sarakki, Puttenhalli and Jaraganahalli may cost around Rs 2,000 crore in the open market today.
“This is one of the biggest clearance drives we have conducted. It may take up to 10 days to recover the encroached land,” said V. Shankar, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru (Urban) district.
The district administration has formed three special teams, each headed by an assistant commissioner and armed with multiple earth movers and have taken up the clearance drive.
“We have issued notices to all encroachers multiple times. The High Court has given the order three times already. But this time we are moving in, armed with a court order to take stringent action against encroachers. All encroachers have been served notices a month ago and the date of clearance drive was also notified,” said Nagaraj, Additional Deputy Commissioner.
High Court had issued an order in August 2014 to free the lake of all encroachments disposing off a PIL filed by People’s Campaign for the Right to Water. Tahsildar Bengaluru (South) had, then, conducted a survey and submitted a report to the High Court showing 135 encroachments in the lake area.
Mr. Nagaraj said that there were a private dental college, a temple and 68 residential buildings in survey number five of Sarakki village, 30 commercial complexes, 42 residential buildings, six temples in survey no five of Puttenahalli village and around 40 residential buildings in survey number seven of Jaraganahalli village.
“Most of the residents of the area have left the houses with their goods anticipating eviction and demolition,” he said. He also added that a part of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) built road also encroached on the lake area and it would be cleared.
High Court has given a stay order for the eviction of one Nandini Lakeview Apartments with 21 flats, in the lake area. Mr. Nagaraj said apart from that one apartment complex, they would demolish all other buildings and recover the land.
Big builder favoured?
Even as the demolition drive is going on in full swing, one apartment complex built on the edge of the Sarakki Lake will remain untouched as the land records seems to favour it. The apartment complex belongs to a prominent builder of Bengaluru and sources say that the Bengaluru urban district officials in the land records section have openly favoured the big builder.
Deputy Commissioner V Shankar said: “There are many doubts over the way this particular apartment has been exempted. We’ll conduct a fresh survey and get it rectified. If there is some foul play to benefit someone, we will not spare the guilty officials.”
The Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru South L C Nagaraj said: “I have no doubts in my mind that a good portion of the apartment encroaches the lake. But strangely, the map has been drawn in such a fashion that the apartment has been exempted.”
The village map, said sources, show straight lines towards the side of an ashram, but the survey sketch shows sudden bend in the line, which raises doubts.
Once the demolition is over and the land is reclaimed, the BDA will be asked to speedily restore the lake so that no fresh encroachment happens there, said Shankar.
Activists happy
Meanwhile the activists who fought for the restoration of the lake bed, the members of the People’s Campaign for Right to Water (PCRW) were the happiest lot on Thursday, as their eforts began to bear fruit.
