TG Halli brimmed with illegal layouts: Government takes action
Clamping down the mushrooming of illegal layouts near TG Halli, the BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) has identified more the 146 unauthorized structures, within the 1 km radius of the banks of Kumudavathi and Arkavathi rivers. Categorized under Zone-3, the areas fall under the Tippagondanahalli (T.G. Halli) catchment region.
The overall extent of the TG Halli reservoir catchment stands at 1453 km and it cuts in on part of Nelamangala, Magadi, Doddaballapur, Nelamangala, coupled with Bangalore taluks. The reservoir at Tippagondanahalli receives inflow of water from two sources- Arkavathi and Kumudvathi.
The insight
Around 4.5 acres encroached land have been retrieved from private builders, who paved layouts and sold them to potential buyers under the brand name- Jala Tarangini Extension, Jala Shringar Villas, Lakeview Paradise etc. The developers were hand in glove with the village panchayats and managed to acquire approvals for offering drinking water, laying roads,providing electricity and streetlights with the help of fraudulent documents.
Unplanned development in the catchment (that includes villas, houses and commercial establishments) stands out as one of the primary reasons for the poor quality and scaled down the inflow of water into the reservoir. Growth of industrialization and urbanization has remodeled the drainage pattern in the catchment, which has adversely affected the inflow into the Thippagondanahalli Reservoir. This led the government to take the initiative and root out the illegal layouts in the area.
BDA’s inefficiency
Around 482 non-residential structures and 3506 housing units have been identified in 23 villages that falls under the Zone-3. This clearly highlights the inefficiency of BDA and its incompetent administration that has played all these years, since the civic body is accountable for all kinds of development and planning in the region.
According to experts, had BDA held off the formation of such illegal layouts in TG Halli, people would not have splurged their money on housing and commercial projects in the catchment. Untreated sewage has affected the quality of groundwater in the area significantly and BDA’s inefficiency has played a key role in it.
