Civic Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said that criminal cases will be booked against civic officials who allowed encroachers to flourish. The encroachment clearance drive continued on the third consecutive day on Monday at multiple locations.
Police had to intervene when residents got into heated argument with civic officials who were clearing encroachments on not just rajakaluves but also tertiary drains within Shubh Enclave at Kasavanahalli on Monday. Residents alleged that cops resorted to caning.
Among other things, officials demolished the compound walls of at least four properties, including a hostel for nursing students in Ramachandrapura, Vidyaranyapura.
These had been earmarked for demolition on Saturday.
The BBMP is expected to continue the demolition drive on Tuesday and Wednesday.
‘What were officials doing?’
At the BBMP council meeting on Monday, councillors cutting across party lines sympathised with the property owners whose houses were demolished, terming them ‘gullible buyers’.
They came down heavily on layout developers and BBMP officials who issued khatas, building plans and occupancy certificates for properties that encroached lakes.
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad, in his reply to the council, said that all documents pertaining to the properties now declared encroachments were sent to the Urban Development Department, which will prepare a list all officers who had issued khata, OC and sanctioned building plans for these properties.
“We will move for dismissal of all these officers and also book criminal cases against them,” he said.
Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 stipulates three years’ imprisonment for both encroachers and officials who connived with them.
Mayor B.N. Manjunath Reddy has pointed out that sub-registrars who registered private properties on rajakaluves and BDA officials who approved plans for the layouts were as culpable as BBMP officials, if not more.
