Government to clear encroachments every month: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa

Following the constitution of a committee, headed by former speaker K G Bopaiah to clear land encroachment in the state, measures will be taken to reclaim the encroached land on a monthly basis, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday.

Speaking at the Legislative Council, Yediyurappa said, “Though committees have been set up for the purpose in the past, the new committee under Bopaiah will ensure that the land is cleared of encroachment.”

Indicating at monetising the recovered land, Yediyurappa said that the revenue thus generated was sufficient to compensate for the shortfall caused by devolution and allocations under 15th Finance Commission.

Yediyurappa also announced that the second installment of Rs 1 lakh for flood victims to construct new homes will be released soon.

The money is being released almost six months after thousands of families lost their homes in one of the most devastating floods to hit Karnataka.

The government had earlier released Rs 1 lakh to victims who had lost homes for works on the foundation of the house. A total of Rs 5 lakh is promised to such victims by the state government. Yediyurappa said that as many as 1.23 lakh houses were damaged in the calamity that affected 23 districts of the state.

On complaints of alleged irregularities in providing relief to flood victims, he said that the government would ensure that injustice was not meted to even one victim. “If funds are misused, the government will suspend officials,” he added.