Govt hands over 197 acres tank area to BDA

A high-level committee formed to acquire land and form a land bank, headed by the chief secretary Tenders called thrice to establish water treatment plants at Hebbal valley to treat 300 million litres of water daily has no takers Administrative consent given for Rs 37.28 crore for the construction of drainage works and effluent treatment plant at Hesaraghatta Contract with BMRCl to promote State tourism at a budget of Rs 37.88 crore for the next 5 years

The State cabinet has decided to hand over total 379.22 acres of land in Arkavathi and Kempegowda Layouts for development as public property. Of the land acquired for Arkavathi and Kempegowda layouts, 197.09 acres of government tank, tank bund area, dried up water bodies and 182.13 acres of Kharab land will be handed over to Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) on a Memorandum of Understanding to develop as public property, Law Minister TB Jayachandra told mediapersons, according to Kannada Prabha.

The State government has also found a solution to the dispute between local authorities and the Defence Ministry with regard to various lands in prime locations in the City owned by the Defence. A high-level committee has been formed headed by the State government’s chief secretary to acquire land and form a land bank in areas coming under Revenue Department, BBMP, BDA and other State Government owned undertakings. The members of this committee are Revenue and Urban Development Departments, Commissioners of BMRCL, BDA and BBMP, District Commissioners of Bengaluru urban and rural, said Jayachandra.

The committee will have the power to exchange lands between Defence Ministry and State government and as a result developing basic amenities and taking up civil works immediately will be facilitated, he explained.

The State government had called for tenders thrice to establish water treatment plants at Hebbal valley to treat 300 million litres of water daily, at Koramangala-Challaghatta valley to treat 150 million litres of water daily and at Vrushabhavathi valley to treat 150 million litres daily and to maintain the plants for 10 years but there has not been any response for the call. In the wake of water from these valleys flowing into the Bengaluru district, the Cabinet has already approved and sanctioned a sum of Rs 334.35 crore for Hebbal Valley installation cost and Rs 199.96 crore maintenance cost, Rs 472 crore for Koramangala-Challaghatta valley and Rs 656.96 crore for Vrushabhavathi Valley. By the current year end water supply will be established from Koramangala -Challaghatta valley to Narasapura of Kolar, he explained.

The Cabinet has also given administrative consent for RS 37.28 crore budget for the construction of drainage works and effluent treatment plant, at Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru. This will facilitate industries to treat the effluent, he said.

The legislative assembly also agreed for getting into a contract with BMRCl to promote State tourism at a budget of Rs 37.88 crore for the next five years. With over 2 lakh commuters daily, there are opportunities to display attractive tourist locations in Metro.