Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made a strategic climb-down over the ongoing raja kaluve encroachment clearance drive on Saturday, directing BBMP officials to only concentrate on removing encroachments on channels linking lakes that were causing floods. He also directed officials to not go for any demolition on storm water drains (SWDs) that are not in use, have lost the character and not causing any floods.
This is clearly a significant shift from the civic body's present position of a blanket drive to remove encroachments on all drains (1,923 encroachments identified by revenue department). The ongoing drive over the past three weeks saw several houses and commercial properties razed down, amidst allegations of discrimination in favour of malls and big builders.
The decision came at a meeting of Congress MLAs from the city, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and senior BBMP officials. Sources confirmed to The Hindu that the Congress MLAs from the city had held a meeting last week over the alleged “unpopularity of the demolition drive” as elections were approaching. Pressure from within the party to go slow, apart from intense lobbying from the realty lobby, has forced the state government to climb-down, sources in the know said.
The decision comes just a day after Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, Karnataka held a conclave in the city, where the realty industry and banking sector expressed concern that the demolition drive was affecting “Brand Bengaluru”.
Transport Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy said that BBMP has now prepared a list of 38 encroached drain stretches, which are flood-prone, which will be taken up on a priority basis to prevent any further floods this monsoon. “The government is only trying to prioritise the drive in flood prone zones. Other encroachments will be handled later and they will not be let off the hook,” he assured.
However, Mr. Siddaramaiah is reported to have directed BBMP officials to not spare anybody – big builders or any commercial properties – encroaching inter-connecting channels, blocking water flow and causing floods. “It is wrong to accuse the government of sparing big builders. We have demolished many residences of over Rs. 5 crore worth. There has been much appreciation for the drive, taken up for the betterment of the city,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
