K'taka Govt to act tough on public land encroachment

Bangalore, Dec 28 (UNI) Taking concrete steps to retrieve over 18,000 acres of public land worth Rs 15,000 encroached by land grabbers, the Karnataka Government has constituted a five-member Enforcement Cell, headed by a senior IAS officer, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the action followed the reports submitted by the State Revenue department and the Legislature Committee on Land Grabbing.

Terming the move as a major challenge, Mr Kumaraswamy said the Government had also constituted a Special Task Force, headed by an IPS officer, to assist the Enforcement Cell. The Government had decided to constitute a Legal Cell, consisting of four senior advocates, to deal with legal hurdles and a Special Court to deal with encroachment cases. The Law department had appealed to the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice in this regard.

The Chief Minister said the Government was expected to raise over Rs 15,000 crore by retrieving encroached Government land, which would be used to waive off farm loans and meet the huge expenses of providing infrastructure facilities in Bangalore Rural and Urban districts.

Mr Kumaraswamy said the revenue officials have suggested that encroached lands which could not be utilised for public purposes be regularised after charging a fine and collecting the market price.

''However, any encroached land which is against public interest will not be regularised,'' he added.

He said those giving a tip off to the Government about any encroachment would be rewarded with an incentive and secrecy would be maintained about the informer's details.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) proposed to construct over two lakh houses for the poor and houseless residents of the city. The State Government had also decided to construct as many as six lakh houses under various housing schemes for the poor and it would be distributed within one year, he said.

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