Encroachments on 1.3 lakh acres of land will be cleared: Karnataka Revenue minister R Ashoka

BELAGAVI: Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Wednesday informed that "encroachment of 2.7 lakh (2,70,108) acres of government lands is cleared till November, with 1.36 lakh acres (1,36,109) of land remaining to be cleared. A task force headed by deputy commissioners of respective districts will take up work on checking encroachments every Sunday”.  

Reacting to a question of MLC Dr YA Narayanaswamy in the Council, Ashoka said, "A total of 14,660 cases have been registered in connection with encroachment of 38,888 acres of government land in Bengaluru city, and 38,546 cases were registered in connection with 36,229 acres in Bengaluru Rural district."

Of 62.72 lakh acres of government land, 14.27 lakh acres are encroached. Barring 14,048 acres allotted for public purpose and 9.97 lakh acres under 'Akrama-Sakrama' scheme, the government had to remove encroachment on 4,06,217 acres. Task forces led by deputy commissioners will remove encroachments in every district, he said.

Making changes in records of rights of lands will be simplified, and applications for corrections will be disposed of swiftly by conducting more ‘Kandaya Adalats’ in the coming days, Ashoka said, answering a starred question by member Marithibbe Gouda in the Legislative Council.

"Except in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru Urban districts, tahsildars have been given powers to make corrections in records of lands through 'Kandaya Adalats'," he said, adding that 841 licensed surveyors have been appointed, and the process to appoint 2,000 more surveyors is on.

This is in addition to the 3,500 surveyors with the department. All pending survey applications will be disposed of in the next four or five months, he said.