Following the recent flooding and large-scale damages in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) started an anti-encroachment drive to remove illegal structures that have come up on storm-water drains in several areas of the Mahadevapura zone.
The civic body came down heavily on the encroachers coinciding with the commencement of the 10-day monsoon session of the Karnataka State legislature on Monday.
BBMP officials, along with marshalls and police department officials, began the anti-encroachment exercise at 15 places in Mahadevapura, which were allegedly causing flooding.
Raghavendra, Assistant Executive Engineer, (Mahadevapura Zone) said, “We have surveyed and identified the SWD encroachments to remove structures on drains that were choking the flow of rainwater.”
The BBMP is also removing structures on a school playground and garden which had encroached on storm-water drains. The civic body has identified and demolished the illegal structures in Challaghatta, Chinnappanahalli, Basavananagar, and SR Layout in Basavanapura ward in the Mahadevapura zone.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said all the properties marked as illegal encroachment had been served notices and action was being taken as per the Revenue Act. “Both storm-water drains and lakes come under the ownership of the Karnataka Land Revenue Department. The survey is been conducted by the tahsildars, and they have also issued a notice, while BBMP is implementing the anti-encroachment drive.”
“We will continue to mark the areas where encroachment has been reported, and will remove encroachments in all the zones in the coming days,” he added.
Recently, the civic body removed parts of Divyasree Apartments in Yemalur in the east of the city for allegedly encroaching on a storm-water drain.
Meanwhile, a document by the BBMP dated August 17 showed that at least 15 IT parks and developers have allegedly encroached SWDs in Mahadevapura zone. A senior BBMP official confirmed to The Hindu, “A notice has been issued to these builders and soon, we will conduct an anti-encroachment drive against these properties.”
