The State government has set up a lake protection committee at a time when major lakes in Bangalore are on the verge of extinction, rued Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Karnataka A K M Nayak.

His remarks came on Thursday during the hearing of a petition by this newspaper pertaining to the lakebed layout formed by the Bangalore Development Authority on Venkatarayana Kere in Survey No 8 of Gubbalala village in Uttarahalli hobli, Bangalore South taluk.

Deccan Herald had published a report on June 11, 2013, about the land grab under the title ‘How BDA stole lake land to form a layout’. On August 5, 2013, an RTI application was filed before the Bangalore South tahsildar. When no information was provided, this newspaper approached the First Appellate Authority and then the Karnataka Information Commission.

The CIC said, “Those who were allotted sites in the lakebed layout have been cheated.” He also took note of the fact that the BDA had stopped issuing building plans, leaving the allottees who have taken loans for constructing houses in the lurch.

During the hearing, the case worker representing the Bangalore South tahsildar told the CIC that the application was forwarded to the Additional Director of Land Records on February 24, 2014.

Taking note of the petition, the records of Rights, Tenancy and Crop (RTC) showing it as a lake and the Deccan Herald report, Nayak served notices on the Bangalore South tahsildar and the Additional Director of Land Records and asked them to furnish the facts before it on April 30, 2014. He also asked them to explain the reason for not providing information even after seven months.

Background

The BDA formed the layout in 2004 comprising 130 small sites of 600 sq ft and allotted them to people from the economically weaker sections, even though the layout was not approved by the BDA Board. BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhatt had admitted that the sites were as good as the Grama Thana sites.