Drive against encroachments in Bengaluru will go on: Min R Ashoka

Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Tuesday said the drive against encroachments would continue without any discrimination between the rich and the poor in Bengaluru.

According to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), there are over 630 encroachments across the city yet to be removed. ”An anti-encroachment drive should be continuous or else illegal occupation will come up again. There will be no discrimination between the poor, middle-class and rich people in this drive,” Ashoka told reporters in Mysuru.

He said two zones of the BBMP were badly affected due to floods earlier this month.

”There is still water stagnating in some places. We expect another spell of rain. Hence, the encroachment drive will continue in the flood-prone areas. We will also initiate measures to remove encroachments in other parts of the city,” the Minister said.

He explained that people can live peacefully only if the stormwater drains are cleared of encroachments. In this regard, the State government has submitted a memorandum to the High Court about its measures to check flooding.

Meanwhile, in Sarjapura in the city, which saw knee-deep water on the road, the civic agency said it has to remove slabs from the drain inside the Wipro campus.

The BBMP also said they removed slabs atop 150 metres of stormwater drain inside the Greenwood Residency. Further, it said they would remove the compound wall of ‘Salarpuria Apartment to build a stormwater drain’.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had also said in the past that the government would not spare anyone who has encroached upon stormwater drains, however big and powerful they may be.