Trusted to protect lakes, BBMP turns encroacher

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which is expected to remove encroachments in the lake area and the buffer zone, has turned into an encroacher at Gangashetty Lake in KR Puram, lake activists and residents of the area have alleged.

According to lake activists, the BBMP has started construction of a ‘Samudaya Bhavan’ across an 8,000-sq foot area that belongs to the lake.

“After multiple requests, revenue officials surveyed the lake last year and the report clearly shows that the area where the construction is happening falls within the lake boundaries. While we were hoping that the BBMP will clear other encroachments within the lake boundary, it is disheartening to see that the civic body itself has turned an encroacher,” said Balaji Raghotham Bali, a lake activist and resident of KR Puram.

He added that the project would be a waste of the taxpayer’s money.

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“There is a clear ruling by the Supreme Court that no construction should be allowed in the lake area. We are told that the BBMP is spending Rs 1.5 crore on the project. Eventually, the project will be struck down and the funds spent so far will go down the drain,” Bali said.

Acknowledging that the matter was brought to his notice, BBMP Chief Engineer (Lakes) Mohan Krishna B T said they are discussing it with the BBMP engineering team.

“I have asked the Chief Engineer (Mahadevapura) to look into the issue and clearly communicated that constructions are not permissible in the lake area,” Krishna said.

However, senior BBMP officials from the Mahadevapura Zone denied such allegations.

“We know that construction cannot be taken up in the lake area. However, if there are such allegations, we will look into it,” a senior engineer from Mahadevapura said.

The residents around the area demanded that the BBMP should take action against the officials who approved the project.