Bengaluru, Dec 30: After two days of knee-jerk reaction to pressure from the Kerala government over the demolition of illegally constructed houses at Kogilu on land earmarked for a solid waste management
project, the Karnataka government has made a U-turn and taken a firm decision not to entertain any encroachments on government land.
DK Shivakumar Says No Free Land For Encroachers
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is in charge of Bengaluru city, has affirmed that the government will not condone any type of encroachment and will not “gift” any land to encroachers in the Kogilu episode.
Multiple Aadhaar, Voter IDs Trigger Change Of Stand
The state government’s change of stand came after realising that some dwellers in Fakir Colony and Wasim Layout in Kogilu, where over 200 illegally constructed houses were demolished, had multiple Aadhaar cards and multiple voter IDs. Officials, after a preliminary inquiry, brought this to the notice of the government, which did not want to be caught on the wrong foot.
“As per law, no one can encroach on government land. We are not ready to ‘gift’ anything to such encroachers and we are not ready to resort to appeasement politics,” Shivakumar said here on Tuesday.
Action Planned Against Land Grab Enablers
Stating that the government was initiating action against the people behind the encroachments, Shivakumar said there was information about a few people who had collected money from the dwellers and constructed the layouts.
“The government is initiating action against the people who collected money and enabled the mushrooming of the two layouts. Since the dwellers said that they had paid money, we are planning to allot houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana only to eligible people,” he said.
Verification Of Property Papers Underway
“We have information that some people had been issued property right papers. We are verifying the authenticity of those papers. If any government official has issued them, action will be initiated against them. We have information that some outsiders have joined the locals. We are checking the voter list to verify how many local voters are there and, if their papers are proper, we will allot them houses, but not for free,” Shivakumar said.
Sharp Retort To Kerala CM Over ‘Bulldozer Justice’ Remark
Taking a dig at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who compared the demolition drive to ‘bulldozer justice’ of Uttar Pradesh, Shivakumar said there was no need for him to advise on how the Karnataka government should run its administration.
“We are running our government properly and just because he talks, we are not going to condone encroachment. The Kerala Chief Minister has not kept up the promise he made during landslides and floods in his own state. He should be concentrating on that and not advising us,” Shivakumar said.
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Pakistan Reaction Dismissed
Answering a question on Pakistan’s reaction to the Kogilu demolition, Shivakumar said that there were senior leaders at the national level who would reply to that country.
