Siddaramaiah orders demolition of illegal constructions on rajakaluves and tank bunds
Bengaluru: Stung by the huge uproar over last week's rain induced floods in the city, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed Bengaluru Urban district officials to ruthlessly clear encroachments and illegal constructions on rajakaluves and tank bunds in Bengaluru South taluk, which witnessed a chaotic situation.
Talking to the media after a review meeting with ministers, the city mayor and officials, at his home office, Krishna, on Wednesday, the CM blamed encroachments for the flood and water logging in Bengaluru South, BTM Layout, Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli Assembly constituencies. “Revenue officials have identified 1,923 illegal constructions in the city and have cleared 822 of them. I have directed officials to clear the remaining 1101 illegal constructions too," he said.
The issue of vacating the stay obtained by owners of several illegal constructions came up during discussion the CM had with the Chief Secretary and Advocate General. To argue cases pertaining to illegal encroachments, the government has decided to appoint a senior counsel in the High Court, Mr. Siddaramaiah said. He agreed to release Rs 140 crore for taking up emergency work in rain affected areas which will be utilized to clear rajakaluves and storm water drains.
New layouts like Deo Layout, Anugraha Layout and Akshaya Nagara Layout have been developed by encroaching on rajakaluves with government officials involved in issuing licenses to construct these layouts. "I have asked the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development department to enquiry into the illegalities in the issue of licenses by BBMP officials. I will take action against errant officials responsible for issuing license for illegal layouts", Mr Siddaramaiah warned.
He instructed forests officials not to obstruct the work of BBMP in rain affected areas.. "Since there is lack of co-ordination among the departments, I have constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to ensure better co-ordination, this committee will meet every Saturday", the CM said.
To fill up potholes, the CM directed the BBMP commissioner to utilize the emergency funds of corporators. Each corporator has Rs 20-30 lakh emergency fund which can be used for filling potholes in the city, he said adding that the Python machine can be used to fill potholes.
Siddaramaiah sad, but at work
Two days after the heartbreak of losing a much loved son, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resumed work, albeit at his home office Krishna and not the Vidhana Soudha. And not before, overcome with grief on Tuesday, he remained shut away in his room on the first floor of Cauvery, his official residence. It was Ministers D.K. Shivakumar, R.V. Deshpande, Ramesh Kumar, Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa and H.K. Patil who persuaded him that the best way to get through the tragedy was to throw himself into his work. On Wednesday, the CM, on whom the loss has clearly left a mark, finally attended meetings with officials.
