PROPERTY, NOT PROPRIETY: BBMP OFFICER IS A BUILDER IN SARAKKI LAKE’S BUFFER ZONE

The resident, who has raised this problem, had applied for info from the BBMP beneath the Right to Information (RTI) Act and observed that ‘LP No 0653/12-13, dated November 3, 2012, website no 102, and haha no. 18’ became allotted to three holders, one among whom changed into Sarfaraz Khan. The property has been registered inside the call of Puravankara Coronation Square. One of the other holders is Shaheda Parveen. Interestingly, below Rule 15 of the Civil Services Conduct Rules 1964, no authority servant can “interact at once or indirectly in any change or business” or even “negotiate for, or undertake, another employment.” The resident alleged that the housing complex coming up in this belongings had 40 apartments and seven villas, several of which had already been bought.

The RTI applicant, who asked for anonymity, stated: “Three names were cited as holders for the development being taken up in this assets. When I noticed Sarfaraz Khan’s name, I desired to recognize if it became the equal Sarfaraz Khan who holds the submit of Joint Commissioner inside the BBMP.” The JP Nagar resident said this property itself won’t be an encroachment on Sarakki Lake, but the “construction of the property is on the tip of the lake’s boundary.”

“It might be his assets, but he can not assemble a building as in line with the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order. Another developer who became constructing a constructing here needed to forestall the work. But the development of this constructing has not been stopped as these people are influential. The BBMP demolished many small homes right here on the road some months in the past however it did not have the center to prevent this complex that is going to have forty flats and 7 villas,” he stated. According to this resident, the development changed into commenced in 2012 however turned into stopped in 2015.

“Initially, that they had planned to construct many villas here. But the works become halted. It was restarted in mid-2016, and 40 flats and 7 villas had been planned. They recognize they’re breaking the regulation, so that they haven’t advertised yet. But I even have heard they have already sold those seven villas,” he stated. Seema Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Karnataka Lake Conservation, and Development Authority, said: “I even have visited Sarakki Lake but I am not privy to this problem. But I can say that the construction of any structure on the buffer zone is against the law. The NGT’s suggestions limit any production inside 75 meters of a water body,” she said.

An activist who did not wish to discover himself said, “Any authorities authentic conserving the workplace of earnings is an offense. The government employee can not run any business. He can have the rent from the house he constructs but he can not develop the flats and promote it. Then it becomes the Real property, and he’s doing commercial enterprise whilst conserving the authorities’ process,” he stated.

One of the homes near Khan’s assets that the BBMP demolished these days. When asked about this issue, BBMP’s Executive Engineer for lakes, VK Ravi, stated he had inspected the lake and its boundary many times. “We were given the lake from the BDA remaining year, and we aren’t certain about its boundary. We have requested information from the Assistant Director of Land Records to behavior a re-survey. It has been 4 months now, however, we’re yet to get the facts,” he said.

After he noticed Sarfaraz Khan’s name on the documents, the RTI applicant wrote to BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad. “I wrote to the Commissioner on July three to verify if the name noted turned into of the Joint Commissioner. And I actually have no longer obtained any reaction from him to date,” he said. When Bangalore Mirror reached out to BBMP’s Sarfaraz Khan, he showed that he became the proprietor of the belongings close to Sarakki Lake. He said it became his ancestral property and that he had not violated any law.

“I am a part of the construction of residences on this property. Shaheda Parveen is my sister who’s married to an IPS officer Mohammed Yasin from Kerala. My grandfather had bought this land 50 years in the past, and we’re growing it now. If one goes there and takes a glance, they can see that the property does not violate the buffer quarter in any way. We have procured all of the legal requirements and our work does now not violate any law,” he said. BBMP leader but refused to touch upon the problem. “I am no longer privy to this count so I don’t need to touch upon it,” he stated. On why he didn’t reply to the RTI applicant’s request, he said: “I get hold of thousands of such programs every day and I constantly forward it to the department involved. I won’t be capable of reply all of the time, however, I definitely forward this to the involved branch,” he stated.