BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Saturday resumed it encroachment clearance drive in Mahadevapura and KR Puram areas. The civic body has set a target of clearing 100 encroachments in the next 15 days.
Encroachment of rajakaluves, or main drains, have resulted in flooding of houses, wall collapse and and tree on several occasions in different parts of the city. The new Congress government has now set out to make a Better Bengaluru and has instructed clearance of rajakaluves as the first step in this direction.
The BBMP has identified 571 encroachments with the highest number in Mahadevapura. On Saturday, an encroachment clearance drive was taken up at Spice Garden Layout in Munenakolala where 22 building have been marked. These include under-construction building, walls, and vacant land.
The civic body has also take up a drive to clear the rajakaluve at Hoysala Nagar in KR Puram Assembly constituency since Friday itself where some shops were taken down. Today, the BBMP is focusing on Horamavu and Hoysala Nagar.
In cases where property owners have secured stay orders from courts, the BBMP is preparing for a legal battle. It has already got a survey report which has identified 571 encroachments in 30 survey numbers. In 2017 itself, 2,951 encroachments were identified as 2,267 of them were cleared in stages.
In 2023, a total of 88 encroachments were cleared while there is stay orders in respect of 118 cases and the Palike is working on clearing 666 other encroachments. In all, there are stay orders in 62 cases in Mahadevapura zone and 56 cases in Bommanahalli zone.