CM Bommai scraps BDA's controversial water body conversion notice after outrage

A notice from the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) which proposed that it would change a ‘water body’ to a residential property made several rounds on social media and enraged citizens who alleged that the BDA is using lake land to build residential units.

The Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) came under fire on social media when it put out a notice looking to categorise a ‘water body’ as residential property as there was a cartographical error in its 2015 plan. Considering the outrage it sparked by the citizens, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio himself, on Friday decided to scrap the notice.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said that the notification issued by the BDA to categorise a ‘water body’ as a residential land will be cancelled. (HT_PRINT)

The notification issued on May 12 said that the director of Casa Grand Garden City Builders Pvt Ltd has requested to change the land use of about four acres of land in Yelahanka taluk from ‘water body’ to residential purpose under the cartographical error provision which is wrongly assigned.

The notice further said the builder stated in his application that, if the land is allowed for change of land use from tank to residential purpose, developing this land will provide houses to the public at a reasonable price, local workers will get employment during development of the site, the development will further help in developing the surrounding area, and that the planned design will make good civic spaces and parks available to the public.

However, many angry netizens took to Twitter and expressed their dissent. One user wrote: “What crap is this. Wants to convert a water body to residential land use and BDA is asking for objection rather than turning it down. Total corruption nothing else. This is how water bodies in Bengaluru have vanished.”

Meanwhile, another Twitterati shared: "This is how @BDABangalore headed by @SRVishwanathBJP kill Bengaluru. Hand in glove with real estate mafia and lakes disappear in minutes. Where are our trimurti buckets @CTRavi_BJP @Tejasvi_Surya @blsanthosh “Double engine sarkar, 40% commision sarkar” of @narendramodi @BSBommai"

However a handle named Raj Bhagat, who is a civil engineer, posted a thread in this regard and said that the area classified as a water body was actually a stone quarry.

He shared satellite pictures of the region that showed that the quarry in 2000 contained stagnant rainwater that typically accumulates in such stone quarries.

“How to preserve or use quarry sites is a different story. But this is not a waterbody nor had it been,” he wrote.