Karnataka panel confirms 11,000 acres lake land encroached in Bengaluru

BDA, City Corporation, Private builders such as Sobha and Prestige accused of encroachers

A Karnataka legislature panel has found that a third of Bengaluru lakes have been encroached upon by Bangalore Development Agency, the lead outfit identified to improve the city. Two-thirds have been encroached by private builders and developers, who have built massive offices for multinationals that have set up their bases in India's tech hub.

The Lakebed Encroachment Committee, a panel set up by Karnataka Legislature found that 11,000 acres of lakes from 1545 lakes in both Bengaluru urban and rural districts were encroached. The panel was formed in September 2014.

Bangalore Development Authority, the agency to build infrastructure in the city, has allocated 60,000 plots by encroaching lakes in the city. The panel in its report on Friday identified 24 private builders that include Prestige Group, Shoba Developers, Advaita Developers, Adarsh Developers and Bagmane Techpark as private agencies that have encroached lakes in the city.

K B Koliwad, the chairman of the 11-member panel said on Friday that it had sent a show cause notice to those identified as encroachers on why the government should not take action against them. The panel has set a deadline of January 31 for responses.

He said the panel would recommend filing of criminal cases against private encroachers and government officials who had fabricated documents to facilitate encroachment.