The rising value of land in Bangalore — like in other metros in the country — has put the vast defence estate here under pressure.
With eight instances of encroachment — ranging from 6,000 sq. ft to about two acres being identified in the city — the Army officials now say they are taking a serious view of the encroachment.
Bangalore, the Army said, has about 5,000 acres of defence land.
“Large tracts of land have not been fenced as several lakhs of rupees are needed for it. Sometimes sentries are posted. These parcels of land face encroachment threat when the units move out for training. A similar incident was reported from Hyderabad when the land was encroached when the unit was out training for a couple of years,” said Major General K.S. Venugopal here on Friday.
Getting serious now
Interacting with reporters after taking over as the General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, he said: “There have been isolated cases … but now we are quite serious about [encroachment].” State governments, he said, have been positive in solving the encroachment problems if it pertains to them, while some involving individuals have reached the courts.
According to Major General A.K. Pradhan, who handed over charge to Major General Venugopal, the problem is acute in metro centres where land prices are climbing. “We have 5,000 acres of land in Torangal area in Bellary, but nothing has happened there. Wherever encroachments have been reported, joint survey (with civilian authorities) has revealed that the land belonged to us,” he said.
Maintenance
On repair and restoration of defence buildings, including housing units, he said that a one-time funding of Rs. 2,500 crore had been approved to undertake maintenance of buildings, many of which date back to the pre-Independence era. “Over the years, the Army has grown with the raising of more units and formations; but construction has not kept pace with it.”
There is also an ambitious plan to provide one lakh dwelling units over the next six to seven years to overcome housing shortage for defence personnel, Maj. Gen. Venugopal said.
