The Hindu 10.09.2014
‘Clear encroachments on govt. land’
Demanding that the government act on clearing and taking
ownership of encroached government lands, scores of citizens, led by
freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy and A.T. Ramaswamy, former MLA , staged a
protest at Town Hall here on Monday.
Speaking to
The Hindu
, Mr. Ramaswamy, who headed the Joint Legislature Committee on
encroachments on government land in Bangalore Urban district, said that
over 20,000 acres of government land in the city had been encroached
upon.
“The civic agencies are only looking at
clearing visible encroachments. However, in many cases, false documents
have been created and ownership of government lands changed. These
encroachments are being overlooked,” he said.
He
alleged that most encroachments were by politicians in connivance with
bureaucrats and the land mafia. Mr. Ramaswamy also said that the
Karnataka Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill, 2007, which was approved by
both the Assembly and Council, was still awaiting the President’s
assent.
‘Lack of political will’
“The
government is not following up on this. There is clearly lack of
political will to enact the law,” he alleged. He pointed out that two
months ago, Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra had assured that it would be
enacted soon.
V. Balasubramanian, who headed the Task
Force for Recovery of Government Land in the State, concurred with Mr.
Ramaswamy. He said the government had kept his report, submitted in July
2011, in limbo and was yet to accept it.