B'luru encroachments: Influential people interfere but we will remove them, asserts Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday spoke about the interference of 'influential' people in removing encroachments in the city as part of the flood-mitigation efforts but underlined his government's resolve to ''mercilessly'' remove the unauthorised structures.

Bommai said he has ordered an inquiry into encroachment of lakes and stormwater drains (SWDs).

He 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, when the issue came up in the state Assembly.

The Chief Minister was replying to the queries of the Opposition which had sought to know the reasons for the recent flooding in the city and measures taken by the State government to prevent its recurrence.

Torrential downpour had earlier this month led to a deluge in parts of the city, throwing life out of gear. A special task force has also been formed to ensure the SWDs are constructed properly as per norms, he said.

''I have ordered an inquiry into the encroachment of lakes and the stormwater drains. It will have a judicial official and two technical experts,'' Bommai said.

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

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.

He has ordered preparing a comprehensive masterplan involving the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Bommai added.

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

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

The chief minister further said he has ordered having sluices in major lakes in all the four valleys of Bengaluru - Hebbal, Koramangala-Challaghatta and Vrushabhavati.

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, noisy scenes 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, resulting in flooding during heavy rains.

He said, ''not only on 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... (all) will 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, and 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. It was withdrawn after public outcry.

The Chief Minister was responding to Congress MLA K J George's intervention during the Revenue Minister's reply to a 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 remove them from the maps; who were the influential people behind it, will be inquired into.'' Welcoming Bommai's statement, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said let the inquiry be done and the guilty be punished, while measures should also 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 such water bodies 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, jumping in defence of George, said the then government headed by him might have taken a decision based on the situation that existed then, but it was never implemented.

Bommai, sharing details of the then Cabinet decision to remove the lakes that had 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.'' 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 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, adding, 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.

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.'' 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 up old stories which made no sense.

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