“Siddaramaiah-led Congress government is out to denotify 1,500 lakes in the state, 195 of them in Bengaluru alone, to spin money for the forthcoming Assembly polls. By doing so, he will also be helping the real estate mafia,” former MP A H Vishwanath has alleged.
He told reporters here on Saturday that Siddaramaiah has raked up two controversies — the debate on the terms ‘Lingayat’ and ‘Veerashaiva’ and on the designing of the Karnataka flag.
Vishwanath said he was surprised that even environmentalists had not reacted vehemently against Siddaramaiah’s decision to denotify lakes. He said no politician has ever built a lake or a pond since Independence, but politicians have used their might to ensure their disappearance. “All lakes and ponds have been built by erstwhile rulers, administrators and philanthropists. Children were always inspired to preserve lakes and plant saplings on pathways in olden days. Now, Siddaramaiah, the modern day ruler, is happily selling off precious water bodies to fund his party in the elections,” he said.
“When I was Forest minister in 1994, the Supreme Court passed a ruling to hand over all lakes in Bengaluru, then Bangalore, to the Forest department, so as to conserve them. Eventually, the posts of Lake Officers were created and later Lake Development Authority and subsequently Pond Development Authority were formed. Now, the chief minster says he has denotified only the lakes that have been disfigured. Who is responsible for the disfigurement of the lakes? If they have been disfigured, is it not the responsibility of the government to restore them to their original form? It was a good move to clear encroachment on some lakes and the Raja Kaluve in Bengaluru but only the poor were evicted. The encroachment by Minister Shamanuru Shivashankarappa for a hospital and actor Darshan for his house have been spared,” he said.
“All Deputy Commissioners are empowered to clear even an inch of encroachment on lakes but no DC has made use of this power so far. Now, instead of taking steps to solve the problems of the people, Siddaramaiah is all set to help the real estate mafia,” Vishwanath said.
Demanding the withdrawal of the Cabinet order, he said the JD(S) will fight for the conservation of lakes. “The chief minister has been boasting of fulfilling all his promises in the election manifesto but has he fulfilled his promise of giving a corruption-free government? What happened to his ‘padayatra’ up to Ballari to fight against corruption of the mining mafia? On the contrary, his own cabinet colleagues have been indulging in various scams. So, his claims of fulfilling his promises does not hold water,” said Vishwanath.
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