The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the designated officers of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to take immediate steps to remove the identified encroachments of Subramanyapura and Begur lakes in the city.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J.M. Khazi issued the directions after going through the reports of survey conducted by the State authorities on the encroachments of these two lakes. The Bench was hearing a batch of PIL petitions on the issue of protection, rejuvenation, and preservation of lakes.
The Bench said the designated officers of the BBMP will have to exercise the power under Section 22 of the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority Act, 2014, to clear the encroachments.
The Act empowers the designated officers to summarily evict the encroachers after giving them notice in writing, and any order passed by the 0fficers can only be challenged before the district and sessions court.
Meanwhile, the Bench directed the State government to ensure that proper and necessary assistance is extended to the designated officers for removing the encroachments.
The encroachments on Subramanyapura lake as per survey report are one acres and seven guntas land utilised for the purpose of link road between Subramanyapura and Uttarahalli. Another encroachment is of three acres and 39 guntas of land, which is called Bhuvaneshwarinagara slum, notified as a slum in 2005 by the Karnataka Slum Development Board.
On Begur lake, the survey report had stated that encroachment of six acres and 37 guntas by private persons and of this an extent of one acre and 36 guntas is already removed. Other encroachments are three acres and 26 guntas used for the purpose of Nice Road and public road etc.
