Advocate Jambunath Yadav alleged that the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had illegally allotted 180 acres of land in Devasugur hobli to the employees of Surana Industries for a housing colony project. He was addressing a press conference at the Raichur Reporters’ Guild here on Friday.
He said that the Gulbarga circuit bench of the Karnataka High Court had stayed the KIADB order which allotted land for housing purposes although the land in question was acquired for industrial purposes.
In 1992, the State government, through KIADB, had acquired 2,000 acres of lands in Devasugur in Raichur taluk for industrial purposes. Of this, 1,755 acres were allotted to different industries, including Surana Industries, which got 300 acres.
The remainder, 245 acres, remained undistributed.
In its meeting held at Bangalore in September last year, KIADB had resolved to build a housing colony on 180 acres of land (of the total 245 acres) at a cost of Rs. 120 crore and distribute the houses among employees of Surana Industries.
It is illegal to put land acquired for industrial purposes to any other use.
“As a result, the Gulbarga circuit bench accepted our writ petition and stayed the KIADB order. This is the first victory in our fight against irregularities,” Mr. Yadav said.
There have been 90 applications in the last three years seeking lands for establishing industries in the district.
Moreover, a single-window meeting held in July last year, which was presided by the Raichur Deputy Commissioner, recommended allotment of lands to industries that signed a memorandum of understanding with the State during the Global Investors’ Meet.
However, KIADB sought to use the land to construct a housing colony for Surana Industries, a move which would have deprived around 3,000 people of jobs, he felt.
