Guv urged to order govt to drop move on 'long-lost' lakes

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday urged Governor Vajubhai Vala to direct the state government to drop its controversial proposal to give up control and ownership of parts of lakes, ponds and other waterbodies that have dried up and lost their original features.

The government should work towards reviving and rejuvenating the waterbodies. It is instead planning to “permanently wipe out” 1,500 dry lakes across the state, he said. “The government’s move is against public policy as well as (the) environment. It seems to have given in to the pressure by the real estate lobby... Hence, in the interest(s) of Karnataka state, I kindly request you to step in on the matter and direct the government to not go ahead with such an anti-social decision (sic),” Kumaraswamy said in the letter to the Governor.

Karnataka has close to 25,000 lakes that fall under the jurisdiction of zilla panchayats and which are the primary source of water. The government has proposed to give up control and ownership of these waterbodies in order to “regularise illegal constructions”. Except the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, all the departments concerned have approved the proposal. The Cabinet has already approved amending section 68 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act for this purpose, he added.

Vested interests are likely to misuse the scheme once it is implemented.

Reports submitted by the legislature committee headed by A T Ramaswamy in 2006 and the V Balasubramanian committee in 2011 clearly identified encroachments on government land across the state, including in Bengaluru Urban district. But the government has not taken any action to reclaim its land, Kumaraswamy said.