Land measuring one acre and six guntas on the Varanasi lake, also known as Jinke Timmanahalli lake, that had been encroached was reclaimed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Friday.
The lake at Varanasi village, Bidarahalli hobli, Bengaluru East taluk, in Mahadevapura zone, was originally spread across eight acres and 24 guntas. Of this, a few sheet houses had encroached onto the lake area, said the BBMP in a press release. The reclaimed land is worth around ₹30 crore.
The encroachments were cleared jointly by a team of revenue officials from the district administration, along with BBMP and Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) authorities. Measures have been taken to fence the reclaimed land, the release stated.
On December 28, 2020, a notice was issued to the lake encroachers following an order by the High Court of Karnataka.
The lake is being developed by the BBMP at a cost of ₹3 crore. Funded by the Chief Minister’s Nava Nagarottana scheme, around 45% of the work on the project has been completed. This includes work on the pipeline diversion channel to stop wastewater from flowing into the lake, main bank strengthening, and clearing silt. Construction of a silt trap and sluice, pedestrian track, and slab laying on the bank are under way.
Encroachments on lakes in the BBMP limits had already been identified and will be cleared in a phased manner, jointly with the Revenue Department, as per orders from the High Court and the National Green Tribunal on priority, said Mohan Krishna, Chief Engineer (Lakes).
