JOIN USFaced with a vehement protest by a strong group of over 1,000 people, the Bengaluru Urban district authorities on Saturday could not carry out demolition drive to reclaim the Kacharakanahalli lake land in Bengaluru North taluk.
Spread over 57 acres of land on paper, the lake has shrunk substantially. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has developed a residential layout on 20 acres of the lake land, while two acres have been lost to temples and other religious structures on the lake bed.
The lake has lost all features of a water body and is now a barren land, where many illegal structures and shanties have come up. To kill the lake further, the stormwater drain has been diverted away from the lake, which carries only sewage.
People had gathered in great numbers, following rumours that the district authorities planned to demolish all religious structures, especially the Rama Temple, on the lake bed. Social media too played a vital role in spreading the rumour.
V Shankar, the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, told the temple management that the department would take over the temples and hand them over to the Muzrai Department for their better management.
“We have told the temple authorities that we will not demolish the religious structures, but take them over and hand them over to the Muzrai department,” said Shankar.
Assistant commissioner Mahesh Babu said there were many commercial activities going on around the temple complex comprising five structures.
“The Revenue department is the owner of the lake land, where five marriage halls have come up, besides temples. Commercial activities are also being conducted. We will take all these properties into our custody,” said Babu.
The district administration will conduct a fresh survey of the land. It intends to hand over the lake to the BDA or BBMP to develop.