Bengaluru encroachments being removed after floods

Under the jurisdiction of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the operation of clearing the encroachments of the Raj canal is actively going on as on Tuesday a total of 18 encroachments including the Mahadevpur zone and Yalahanka zones were cleared.

Bengaluru: In the aftermath of heavy rains leading to floods in Bengaluru, the demolition of apartments built illegally in different parts of the city is in full swing.

Under the jurisdiction of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the operation of clearing the encroachments of the Raj canal is actively going on as on Tuesday a total of 18 encroachments including the Mahadevpur zone and Yalahanka zones were cleared.

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In Mahadevapura Zone, Shantiniketan Layout, Papaya Reddy Layout, Chellaghatta, and Yelahanka Zone Satellite Town, Rajkaluve encroachment will be cleared by 2 Hitachi and 8 JCB machines with the corporation engineers, revenue officers, marshals, and police personnel.

About 50 meters of encroachment have been cleared and the clearance operation is in process.

As many as seven buildings and four compound walls will be cleared in the Shantiniketan layout. In Papaya Reddy Layout, the apartment wall encroached by Rajkaluve and the 4 sheds built on the empty space of Rajkaluve has been cleared.

In Basavanpur, one compound wall and one empty space will be cleared and seized by the corporation.

In the satellite town of Yalahanka zone, the compound wall built by the CBS Institute encroaching on the 120-meter-long Raj Canal has been cleared by the JCB.

The encroachment of the royal canals in the city is being surveyed and marked by land surveyors and the encroachment clearance operation is being carried out.

The evacuation operation of the encroached areas will continue in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashok on Tuesday said that all apartments built illegally on Rajakaluve in Bengaluru city will be demolished.

“By next monsoon, we’ve to clear all pending demolitions… all apartments will be removed, as you saw in Noida. Action to be against officials & builders”, said R Ashok on Rajakaluve encroachment.

“30-40 IT companies have encroached the Rajakaluve in Bengaluru city and apartments will be demolished without any partiality,” he added.

The list of IT Parks and developers who have done SWD (stormwater drain) encroachments includes- Bagmane Tech Park and Purva Paradise in Mahadevapura, RBD in 3 locations, Wipro in Doddakannelli, Eco-Space in Bellandur, Gopalan in multiple locations & Diya school in Hoodi,” BBMP said in a statement.

“Nalapad in Challaghatta is also a part of the list of IT Parks & developers indulging in SWD (stormwater drain) encroachments,” it added.

He also added that the assembly discussed the Bengaluru floods and the further course of action.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) informed the high court on Monday that 980 buildings had been found to be illegal throughout the city in a recent survey.

The survey was carried out in response to a high court injunction issued in conjunction with a Suo Moto PIL on September 19.

BBMP is conducting a demolition drive in the illegal commercial and residential buildings of the Mahadevapura area after rains triggered floods in the city.

BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali blamed the illegal encroachment in Bengaluru for the floods.

“Therefore we started clearing encroachment which will take at least 3 months. We will also address the demolition issues”, added Limbavali.

Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, CT Ravi said that the encroachment needs to be cleared at top priority”.

Accordingly, 15 encroachments were cleared in the Mahadevpur zone on Monday, which comes under the jurisdiction of the BBMP.

The encroachment will also be carried out in Chellaghatta, Chinnappana Halli, Basavannanagar, Spicy Garden, and S.R. of Basavanpura ward which comes under the Mahadevapura zone.

The encroachment area has been identified by the land surveyor in the Cambridge College premises and is being cleared by JCB machines with the help of the corporation officials, a team of marshals, and police personnel, the BBMP said.

Three encroached buildings, four compound walls, and roads including the compound wall of Sai Eye Hospital, and the internal flow canal in front of Raghamva Super Market have been cleared.

Three compound walls including empty space of Prestige, a compound wall of Gopalan School, and Mahaveer Apartment near Hoodi, have been cleared in the Chellaghatta area. Four compound walls and roads will be cleared near Spicy Garden (Munnekollu).