Bommai orders inquiry into closure of lakes, encroachments in Bengaluru

In the wake of floods in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said he has ordered an inquiry into encroachment of lakes and stormwater drains (SWDs).

A special task force has also been formed to ensure the SWDs are constructed properly as per norms, he said.

''I've ordered an inquiry into the encroachment of lakes and the stormwater drains. It will have a judicial official and two technical experts,'' Bommai told the Karnataka Assembly. The Chief Minister was replying to the queries of the Opposition which had sought to know the reasons and measures taken by the State government to prevent flooding in the city on August 30 and again on September 7.

He said the special task force would see to it that in the next three to four years the stormwater drains are built properly so that the city would not be flooded.

Bommai stressed the need to take stringent measures to avoid the recurrence of floods in the city.

''We have to remove encroachments, but influential people interfere and do politics. We will remove encroachments mercilessly because if we don't take harsh steps, there will be flooding again in Bengaluru,'' he said.

Bommai apprised the House that the Karnataka High Court has given an order that no other agency has the power to grant a stay, be it the deputy commissioner or Tahsildar, on removing encroachments.

The Chief Minster told the House that he has ordered preparing a comprehensive masterplan involving the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

Already, there are two masterplans of Bengaluru, but a new one is needed, said the Chief Minister.

He said he has approved Rs 600 crore for the development of Bengaluru, which includes Rs 300 crore for remodelling of the SWDs.

The Chief Minister further said he has ordered having sluices in major lakes in all the four valleys of Bengaluru - Hebbal valley, Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley and Vrushabhavati Valley. He said he has directed the civic agencies to set up sewage treatment plants to prevent sewage going into the lakes and polluting them.

Earlier, pandemonium prevailed as the ruling BJP, especially Bommai, tried to turn the tables on the Opposition Congress, accusing it of having taken decisions in the past, while in power, allowing closure of lakes and permitting encroachments, which has resulted in flooding when there are heavy rains.

He said, ''not only closing of lakes, inquiry will be also be done regarding encroachments and who gave the licence to it, under which tenure, which official was there, whose political backing was there, and whose benami properties were there, will all be inquired into, and the nature of investigation will be made known soon.'' ''There will be a lot of pressure with rapid urbanisation and it needs a will to halt such things in public life, as the system has deteriorated,'' he said, as he cited a Revenue Department circular in 2018 (during Congress government tenure) to remove lakes that have lost the features of a water body from the maps, but after public outcry against the move, the circular was withdrawn.

The Chief Minister was responding to Congress MLA K J George's intervention during the Revenue Minister's reply to debate on effects or damages caused by rains and floods in the State.

George claimed he was being trolled by the ruling BJP accusing him of closing of lakes in Bengaluru and allowing encroachments, while he was Minister in-charge of the city, and urged the government to conduct an inquiry.

Noting that governments in the past have taken wrong decisions on the ill-advice and been misguided by officials in certain cases, Bommai further said, ''It is true that attempts were made to close lakes and to remove them from the maps, who were the influential people behind it, will be inquired into.'' Welcoming the Chief Minister's statement, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said let the inquiry be done and the guilty be punished, also measures should be taken to ensure such things do not recur.

However, George, who was Minister during the previous Congress regime, said no lakes were closed during his tenure and there was a proposal to remove lakes that have lost existence and those which do not have the features of a water body, from the maps, across the State, but it was not implemented.

Siddaramaiah, too, jumping in defence of George, said the then government headed by him might have taken a decision based on the situation that existed, but it was never implemented.

Bommai, however, sharing details of the then Cabinet decision to remove the lakes that have lost the features of a water body from the maps said, ''The then Cabinet's intention is very clear it was to remove right of the public on the such lakes...there are evidences and records for it.'' This led to heated arguments between Opposition and treasury benches. Congress tried to defend stating such decisions to convert non-existing lakes into bus stops, places of public amenities and layouts were taken by successive governments in the past, and they alone cannot be blamed for it.

Bommai, however, blamed Congress for the fate of lakes in Bengaluru and said, ''It is you who conspired to swallow Bengaluru's lakes. Such decisions have led to flooding of the city, as the bodies that could have stored water during heavy rains have vanished.'' During his reply, Revenue Minister Ashoka said the recent rains were highest in the last 30-40 years and two zones of the city were hit, and it is because of ''man-made mistakes''. The deluge caused by the downpour is the best example for the consequences of going against nature, he said.

Blaming the current government and its Chief Minister for the destruction caused by recent rains and floods is not right, and there was lack of planning and vision on part of the successive governments in developing the city, he further said 42 lakes have been closed in the city so far.

Ashoka also pointed out that there is no provision in the land revenue Act for the government to authorise closing down of lakes.

He said out of 42 lakes closed down in Bengaluru so far, 28 have been ''swallowed'' by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), five by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), one is BDA authorised, and seven by encroachers.

Noting that the lakes in Bengaluru were connected to one another which ensured easy flow of water, the Revenue Minister said, ''Our lakes have the capacity to store 2 to 4 tmc of water and there would have been no question of lakes overflowing if their systems were maintained well.'' Questioning as to why lakes were used for bus-stands and other public amenities, layouts and other, while there was availability of other land for it, blaming Congress, he said, ''who did it...it is you, the Congress who did it while in power.'' He listed out various lakes that were closed or encroached upon in different parts of Bengaluru since the 1970s and said, ''you also know who were in power during these tenures.'' Ashoka alleged that in some cases lakes were not even shown in the survey reports, and those who were Ministers then and the Cabinet then are responsible for closing of lakes.

This led to a heated debate between Congress and BJP members, as the opposition MLAs accused the government of trying to hide its failure in developing stormwater drains, by digging old stories, which made no sense.

''Will you restore lakes in those areas which were closed and converted into layouts in the 1970s and 80s...successive governments have taken such decisions in the past including BJP and Janata Dal, look at what can be done now...'' Congress leaders said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)