Model village, still a distant dream for Bookanakere village

The development of Bookanakere, the native place of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, has hit a roadblock, much to the disappointment of the residents, who had hoped that the village will turn out to be a model one.

When Yeddyurappa was the chief minister, he had directed officials concerned to prepare a master plan for the development of his native village, complete with parks, bus stand, market, commercial complex and government offices.

A decision was taken to utilise an unused pond, measuring 7.3 guntas behind the Doddakere, for the purpose. Accordingly, the pond was closed at a cost of approximately Rs 75 lakh, and the ground breaking ceremony was held for construction works.

The land, which was with the Water Resources department, had to be formally handed over to the Revenue department, to continue with the works. But after Yeddyurappa lost power, the project lost pace.

With the delay in transferring land, the construction works of various government offices have been affected. However, the Revenue department claims that land needs to be denotified first before it is utilised, as it was a pond. But Assistant Commissioner H L Nagaraju had submitted a report saying the denotification process is not required as it was a waste land.

Even after two years of submitting the report, the district administration is said to have not forwarded it to the government, alleged former taluk panchayat president B Javarayigowda.

B S Yeddyurappa Abhimanigala Sangha president Madhusudhan has urged the district administration to take necessary steps. However, tahsildar K Rathna said, “The final decision has to be taken by the government and the department of Water Resources. If the proposal is approved, the survey work would be completed and reports will be submitted to the respective departments.”