The State BJP, which has woken up late on issue of demolition of houses and buildings by the Bengaluru Urban District citing they were built illegally on lake beds, has now decided to take the cause of families by holding protests in the coming days.
Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, former Minister and BJP MLA S. Suresh Kumar challenged the Government to demolish the State Congress party office built on Millers tank, Kempegowda bus-station on Dharmambudhi tank, and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s office on Saneguravanahalli tank in the City.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the BDA portfolio, has taken away the right to life of the poor families by demolishing their properties constructed about 20-30 years ago. The government had not taken any action on reports submitted by retired IAS officer V. Balasubramanian and former MLA A.T. Ramaswamy on encroachment of government and lake bed lands by land sharks. The government has permitted Mantri Developers to build a housing complex on Sankey tank land, he claimed.
The poor and middle class families had suffered owing to unholy nexus between builders/developers and BDA/BBMP officials. Families who had been residing in houses for more than 30 years had been evicted and their houses were demolished using earthmovers, Mr. Kumar said.
The BJP leader urged the government to convene a session of the legislature immediately to discuss the issue related to demolition driven taken up authorities in the City.
BJP MLA Jagadish Kumar, who is representing Hebbal constituency, challenged Mr. Siddaramaiah to demolish an ISRO building constructed on the lake bed in his constituency.
