Retired PWD engineer among grabbers of govt land

In yet another crackdown on lake encroachments, authorities have reclaimed Rs 68 crore worth of land belonging to two dozen waterbodies, and government land worth Rs 5.72 crore.

Officials from the Bengaluru Urban district administration removed encroachments from 24 lakes, reclaiming 42 acres and 29.12 guntas of land valued at Rs 67.74 crore. They also recovered four parcels of government land, including gomala, gundutopu and kharaab lands, measuring four acres and 19 guntas.

The drive, conducted on Saturday in all the five taluks of the Bengaluru Urban district, is part of an ongoing crackdown on land encroachments and follows a high court order.

In Bengaluru South taluk’s Hulimangala, the land grabber in Survey Number 156 turned out to be a retired executive engineer of the Public Works Department. He claims to have purchased 14.08 guntas from one Ismail Saab in 2012 for Rs 80 lakh. Ismail had bought the land from one Ilyas who apparently said he got the land in a government auction. Ismail died later, he told officials.

M G Shivanna, Assistant Commissioner, Bengaluru South subdivision, said the illegalities in the area were detected during the last week’s eviction drive. “We have explained to the residents that the documents they submitted are not appropriate and they must vacate the land,” he said.

On July 31, officials had reclaimed 141 acres of lake land belonging to 58 lakes.

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