Karnataka has a total of 62.56 lakh acres of government land.
Bengaluru: Government lands remained under encroachment despite official claims of eviction, with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) questioning whether authorities have actually cleared the parcels they reported as freed.
Karnataka has a total of 62.56 lakh acres of government land. According to the latest PAC report, accessed by DH, over 12 lakh acres of government land across Karnataka are under encroachment.
Revenue officials told the PAC that 2.68 lakh acres had been cleared of encroachments. The PAC inspected 43 such cases where authorities said the encroached land was recovered. The legislature committee, however, found that the usurpers were back in 22 cases, covering 219.14 acres of land.
“If inspections are held across the state, it is possible that we will find more such cases where encroachments remain despite evictions,” the PAC, headed by senior BJP lawmaker Araga Jnanendra wrote in its August 24 report.
Citing the example of the Bengaluru Urban district, the PAC found that out of 31,050 acres of “valuable” land cleared of encroachments, only 1.5% had been “secured” by way of fencing and signage. In Bengaluru, like in other places, the PAC team found that the usurpers were back even after authorities claimed to have “recovered” the encroached land.
The PAC frowned that encroachments were not cleared despite deputy commissioners facilitating evictions. “This has allowed encroachers to keep possession of government land,” the report stated.
In its report, the PAC also reviewed the functioning of the Karnataka Public Lands Corporation, established by the government for “conservation and better management” of government lands. The PAC stated that this government body is short-staffed and does not possess any special powers to fight encroachment of government land.
