Tussle over custody of Nagawara, Hebbal lakes as records not in order

Bengaluru: The BBMP has refused to take custody of two prominent lakes from the forest department after the civic body found that some parts of Hebbal and Nagawara lakes are registered under private individuals. The revenue department is not correcting the land records (RTC) of both these lakes despite issuing multiple reminders, officials from both the BBMP and the forest department said. 

Last month, the state government ordered the transfer of three lakes, including Hebbal and Nagawara to the BBMP from the forest department. With this, the BBMP will be the custodian of all lakes of Bengaluru barring Bellandur, Varthur (both maintained by the Bengaluru Development Authority) and Yelahanka’s Puttenahalli lake (left in the custody of the forest department due to an ongoing public interest litigation) 

At the moment, the ownership of all lakes comes under the Revenue Department. Only the responsibility of development and maintenance has been given to the BBMP as it receives government grants on a regular basis. 

Officials in the BBMP said they refused to take custody of Hebbal and Nagawara Lake as the land records were not in order. According to the civic body, the forest department wants to hand over 92 acres of Hebbal Lake as against 115 acres. Originally, the lake was spread over 192 acres and 19 guntas but lost its space for ring road, development of nursery, GKVK University campus etc. 

In the case of Nagawara Lake, the revenue records show the water body (survey number 58) of Nagawara village is spread across 56 acres and 17 guntas. About 46.26 acres of the lake – which is currently the wetland area – does not reflect in the pahani as lake land but is mentioned in the name of private individuals. 

“We want the corrections in the revenue records to be made when it is with the forest department itself. At the moment, there is no encroachment of the lake as it is barricaded. The revenue department must survey the lake land and notify the exact size to avoid complications in the future,” a senior BBMP official said. 

An official in the forest department admitted that the land records of both Nagawara and Hebbal lakes are not in order. “We had written to the revenue department multiple times but they have not looked into the matter seriously,” he said.Bengaluru Urban DC K Dayananda did not respond to calls.

BBMP official:

“We want the corrections in the revenue records to be made when it is with the forest department itself. At the moment there is no encroachment of the lake as it is barricaded. The revenue department must survey the lake land and notify the exact size to avoid complications in the future.