Bengaluru: Muzurai Minister Shashikala Jolle informed the Council on Wednesday September 14 that the State Government will take stern action against anyone encroaching on the Dharmaraya Swamy temple’s land in Thigalarpet. She said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation will be sought.
Jolle was responding to BJP MLC N. Ravi Kumar, who demanded that all encroachments on the temple property be removed and that the encroachers be punished. The Minister claimed that 229 houses and other commercial buildings had been built on more than 15 acres of the temple’s land that has been encroached upon.
Ravi Kumar expressed strong opposition to the encroachment of temple lands and asked how local officials granted them all the documents when they were aware that the structures were on the encroached lands.
He wanted to know what measures were being done to punish both the people who built large buildings on the encroached lands and the government authorities who allowed them. He urged Jolle to go to the site along with department senior officers to assess the issue and take stern action.
Jolle said that complaints have been filed with the police for encroachment on temple land against 13 persons and under the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act against five others. Hearings in these cases are scheduled for September 19. The Council was also told by Jolle that some persons had even approached the courts.
The Muzurai Department has also asked the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for information regarding applications for permission to build on encroached lands,” she said. To secure the temple lands, Ravi Kumar requested the authorities to make sure they are registered in the name of the temple.
