BBMP lodges complaint against firm for lake grab

Layout in lake

Cautious after the Hulimavu Lake breach, BBMP officials seem to be cracking down on encroachers of lakes and other water bodies in and around Bengaluru.

In the latest move, officials have filed a police complaint against Navayuga Constructions and an individual for encroaching upon a part of Chowdeshwari Lake near Parappana Agrahara to build a housing layout.

Linge Gowda, an assistant executive engineer (lake) with the BBMP, stated in the complaint that Navayuga Constructions and Ganesh, the owner of the land adjacent to the lake, are jointly building a layout by encroaching on the southern side of Chowdeshwari Lake in Beratena Agrahara near Parappana Agrahara. They have entered the lake removing the fencing and illegally started building the layout.

The firm, along with Ganesh, had allowed earthmovers to dig up the land to build a drainage system. They took away the marking stones of the lake, damaging the boulders put up across the tank bund area, the official said.

The firm has already put stones to mark the plots, he said in the complaint.

The Parappana Agrahara police have booked Ganesh and owners of Navayuga properties under the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority Act and for mischief causing damage and criminal trespass.

A BBMP senior official said that for the past month, the company was carrying out the work. It had started to build the drainage system but had demolished it after the firm came to know about the complaint.

“We got to know about the incident through the public. Earlier, the BDA handled the lake. But it has not given us the complete map and other details of the lake. So it is now becoming difficult to know about the area,” the official said.

DH tried contacting the Navayuga Constructions for comment but there was no response from the company till late in the night.