The Hindu 18.12.2013
Mayor promises funds for Kempambudhi lake
Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana has said he will sanction funds for development of Kempambudhi lake.
He
was speaking during an inspection of the lake here on Tuesday. Along
with him were the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner
M. Lakshminarayana and R.V. Devaraj, MLA.
The Mayor,
the Commissioner and the MLA directed officials to take steps to remove
silt from the lake and clear all encroachments.
Besides,
they also directed officials of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage
Board to set up two sewage treatment plants (STPs) near the lake and put
in place a separate pipeline to ensure that the sewage does not enter
the historical lake.
“Though several projects have
been taken up for the development of the lake, none have yielded the
desired result. I will sanction some funds from my grants for the
development of the lake,” said Mr. Satyanarayana. He directed the BBMP
officials to prepare an estimate for taking up the development of the
lake.
Encroachment
Nearly
six acres of the Kempambudhi lake area near the Kempe Gowda tower and
Bandikalamma temple have been encroached, but the BBMP officials have
taken no steps to clear the encroachments, locals complained to the
visiting delegation.
Mr. Sathyanarayana told the
locals that he would direct the officials concerned to clear the
encroachments on the lakebed within a week of getting full details about
the extent of encroachments.
Mr. Lakshminarayan said that the as per the Supreme Court direction, the BBMP can evict encroachers without issuing any notice.
Mr.
Devaraj said that he would supervise the encroachment removal drive on
Sunday after which the recovered area would be fenced.
The Commissioner directed the BBMP officials to take action and levy penalty against those dumping debris on the lakebed.
Gandhi Bazaar market
Later,
the team inspected Gandhi Bazaar where the market owned by BBMP is in a
dilapidated condition. The delegation said that though the market was
in a bad state, traders were neither paying rent to the BBMP nor were
they vacating the place.
Mr. Lakshminarayan
instructed the BBMP officials to convince the traders to move out so
that multi-level parking facility could be built in its place. Mr.
Sathyanarayana suggested that a small complex to house BBMP offices
could also be constructed along with the parking facility.
