BENGALURU: Members of the Legislature Committee witnessed rampant encroachment and water pollution during an inspection of lakes in South Bengaluru on Tuesday.
In some areas, panel members did not find any clues that a lake existed, with high-rise buildings having cropped up on the lakebeds.
Ranebennur MLA Koliwad, who is the chairman of the committee, along with other members — former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, former minister S Suresh Kumar, MLAs K Gopalaiah and K Sudhakar — inspected nine lakes in a seven-hour outing.
At Dollars Colony
Residents of Dollars Colony in JP Nagar Fourth Phase submitted a memorandum to members of Koliwad committee. There are 407 sites spread across 55 acres in Bilekahalli (JP Nagar IV Phase).
Former BBMP commissioner and resident of Dollars Colony Siddaiah told Express they had submitted a memorandum to the panel. According to them, in 1988, the government, accepting the Lakshman Rao panel report, excluded Linganahalli Lake, Shivanagilu Lake and Jakkarayanakere from the preservation list as they had lost the characteristics of a water body.
Later it was handed over to BDA and land was converted for residential use. Even City Development Plans (CDPs) from 1988 to 2015 point out that this survey number is an open space and has parks.
It is a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Layout and till 2001, BDA was doing the planning and collecting the tax.
“In 1989, a writ petition was filed against BDA opposing the layout formation. The HC had given a stay order directing BDA not to continue work here. But, once the new CDP came, HC dropped the proceeding and disposed of the case,” another resident said.