25-acre illegal layout cleared in Anekal taluk

The Bengaluru Urban district authorities on Thursday removed encroachment of government pasture land where Sai Developers have developed a huge layout in Inganavadi and Hagase Thimmanahalli under Anekal taluk.

The revenue officials, who went to reclaim government land, faced stiff opposition frm the alleged encroachers led by JD(S) leader Prabhakar Reddy. It is learnt that the total extent of government land is 101 acres of which the layout had come up on 25 acres, while 11 acres were granted to various people under the government scheme.

The revenue officials were abused by the land grabbers and were made to flee the place. Later, with the help of police, the encroached pasture land was reclaimed, said sources in the revenue department.

The district authorities also initiated measures to reclaim land in Hommadevanahalli in Anekal Taluk, which they had inspected on Wednesday.

Giving details of the action taken against the land grabbers, the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban V Shankar told reporters that the land grabbers formed layouts in the government land, which falls under the green belt. Besides registration of sites, khatas were issued by the village panchayat. A probe has been ordered in this regard.

The Additional Director General of Police of Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF), T Sunil Kumar, who was also present there, said a letter has been written to the Inspector General of Stamps and Registration (IGSR) to make provision for the sub-registrars to verify land records before registration of properties.

“The sub-registrar has no means to verify the land records while registering properties. We have written to the IGSR to incorporate provisions for the sub-registrars to check the type of land getting registered, so that illegal land transaction can be traced,” Kumar said.

Shankar said the district officials will now keep track of illegal layouts coming up with the jurisdiction of Bangalore Urban district. He warned the developers of stringent action for forming illegal layouts.

Shankar said: “For forming the layout, the developers should obtain diversion of land use from agriculture to non-agriculture. Further, the layout should be approved by the competent authorities. The State government can cancel the ownership of land if illegal layouts are formed on agriculture land.”

He appealed to the people to verify documents pertaining to various approvals before buying a property in Bengaluru to avoid landing in trouble.

Regarding lakes, Shankar said there 899 lakes in Bengaluru in 23,000 acres of which 373 lakes in 1,444 acres have been encroached upon. So far, 460 acres of lake land belonging to 229 lakes have been freed from encroachment.

In Arakere, two acres of encroachment was cleared by demolishing a factory by the Bengaluru South Taluk officials on Wednesday. The lake will be handed over to the BDA.