JOIN USMinister: Prestige Tech Park has encroached on 200 mts of SWD
Law and Minor Irrigation Minister T B Jayachandra has said that Prestige Tech Park has encroached upon nearly 200 metres of the stormwater drain (SWD) along the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley in Bellandur in the city.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, the minister said the Tech Park has been constructed by encroaching upon either side of the drain.
The minor irrigation department has drawn up a Rs 1,380-crore project to divert treated, sewage water flowing in the KC Valley to fill lakes in the parched Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. The project pipelines has to pass through the Tech Park. This would be an hindrance to lay the 54 kms of pipeline and hence, the building has to be demolished, he stated. “If we have to divert the pipeline, then structures in two km area around the Valley will have to be demolished. We can’t afford to divert the pipeline, also because the flow of the water will be hindered if there are any curves, making it difficult to lift the water,” he told DH. On Wednesday, Jayachandra had said that an apartment complex of the Prestige Group has been built by encroaching upon the drain connected to Challaghatta Valley. But on Thursday he said it is the Tech Park which has been built on the SWD. As per the Google images, there is no other major encroachment along the Valley, he said.
The government would not yield to pressure to accept the encroachment of the drain. No assessment of the drain could be made beyond the Tech Park as the firm had kept its gates locked. Not even government officials are allowed to enter the building. The extent of encroachment is yet to be ascertained, he pointed out.
Asked what the government would do if the firm moves court, Jayachandra said, “I am the law minister. I know how to overcome the legal hurdles. Come what may, the project pipeline will have to pass through the Valley without any diversions. There is no other alternative.”
He said the BBMP has been asked to furnish details of the encroachment by the Tech Park, and also assess the veracity of the clearances given by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and civic agencies.
Jayachandra on Thursday apprised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the status of the Rs 1,342-crore project, which involves filling of 126 tanks in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts with 400 mld of treated sewage water from the KC Valley sewage treatment plant.
So far, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Boar, Public Works Department and Lake Development Authority have given clearances for the project, while clearances are awaited from the BBMP, National Highways Authority of India, Railways, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and KIADB, he said.