No map, but revenue dept bulldozes its way in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: What is the BBMP up to? First, the alignment of the Storm Water Drain was altered and now the demolition drive has been taken up without proper land survey records, allege residents of Doddaommasandra. The Palike is bulldozing structures, allegedly built on storm water drains, without a valid revenue documents, they said.

A resident, N. Siddalingaiah, had filed a petition before the Karnataka High Court demanding revenue survey details from the officials of the revenue department. But the officials had pleaded before the court that the documents were damaged and soiled. On June 13, the officials told the court that it was not possible to retrieve the documents and sought six months to conduct a fresh survey.

After hearing their arguments, High Court Justice Ashok B. Hinchigeri had set a deadline of six months to prepare the details. “But even before the six-month deadline lapsed, the revenue department started the demolition drive on August 10. Did the government mislead the high court saying that it needed time to conduct a fresh survey,” asked B.M. Santosh, an advocate.

Demolition to resume today
Authorities from the BBMP storm water drain wing have chalked out a detailed plan to take up the demolition work on Tuesday after a break of four days. On Tuesday, the demolition drive will be carried out at Koramangala Valley and Siddaiah Road. Besides, the demolition drive will be intensified across all eight zones from Wednesday to Friday.