Tough legal battle over evicting squatters from Kudlu Lake

Civic authorities have served notices on 28 property owners who have allegedly encroached upon the buffer zone of Kudlu Lake in southern Bengaluru. However, reclaiming the area would be easier said than done.

The action by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) comes two years after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took up a case against encroachments on the lake located in the Begur subdivision of the Bommanahalli ward.

The green tribunal came into the picture after one Sevamrutha Aradhya filed a petition seeking the removal of encroachments and stopping the dumping of garbage and sewage into the waterbody known as Kudlu Chikka Kere.

Following orders at previous hearings, authorities surveyed irregularities in the lake. Going a step further, the BBMP has now served the notices under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, for violating the buffer zone regulations.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), which was pulled up by the tribunal over the violations, informed the NGT that its jurisdiction was limited to properties having a built-up area of more than 2,000 square metres. Out of the 28 properties, only three fall into this category, the KSPCB said and added that it would launch criminal proceedings against the owners. The BBMP has been directed to crack down on the illegal structures, the board stated.

The property owners have filed a writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka and cited various documents to prove the legality of their buildings. One owner has submitted a building sanction plan issued by none other than the BBMP. Another owner claims to have been residing in the “illegal” house for the past 51 years. Other owners say their dwellings are as old as 20-30 years.

The court has given an interim stay on the demolition of the structures and asked the BBMP “not to precipitate the matter”.

An official tasked with removing encroachments from a lake in North Benglauru says the BBMP would find it difficult to convince the court about the illegality of the buildings. There are many complications in the case because the area came under the BBMP limits along with 111 villages in 2007. Besides, all eviction drives have been stopped in view of the pandemic, and officials are busy with Covid duties.