2.5 acres excluded from Kaggadasapura Lake area as BBMP begins eviction drive

The BBMP's drive to remove encroachments from Kaggadasapura Lake on Thursday failed to fully achieve the desired results as some land grabbers got a court stay order in the nick of time.

The exercise was also marred by allegations by environmental activists and officials that two acres and 18 guntas of land was removed from the lake area during the survey stage itself.

After years of activism and a recent high court direction, BBMP officials prepared an action plan and reached the lake in CV Raman Nagar on Thursday. Revenue officers, however, showed up only around 12.30 pm, giving a few encroachers enough time to get a court stay on their eviction. By 3 pm, the removal of encroachments had to be stopped.

Based on the survey, the BBMP had estimated that two acres and eight guntas of the lake's total area of 47 acres have been encroached upon. Thursday's eviction was aimed at reclaiming an acre and five guntas.

A BBMP official said another two acres and 18 guntas of the lake land in Survey Number 124/3 of Bendiganalli wasn't included in the survey.

"We were told that Survey Number 124/3 has a total area of two acres and 26 guntas, of which eight guntas belong to a private party and the rest has been marked as kharab land. The delay in recovery will only bolster the encroachers,” the official noted.

A source said two acres and eight guntas of kharab land was added to the list of properties to be auctioned by the BDA. "The list of properties was prepared last year. BBMP and BWSSB officials are making efforts to recover the land to set up a sewage treatment plant," the source added.

Ram Prasad, co-founder of the Friends of Lakes group, alleged irregularities in the marking of the buffer zone on the lake's northwestern boundary.

"The exclusion of a big chunk of land from the survey is similar to the irregularity we detected in the Pattandur Agrahara Lake case. Also, the buffer zone has been mapped inside the lake bed instead of the 30-metre area around the boundary," he said, demanding a thorough inquiry and a review of revenue documents.

The BBMP plans to develop the lake at a cost of Rs 8 crore under the chief minister’s Nava Nagarothana project. In a news release, the Palike said work was underway to divert wastewater away from the lake.