The gobble story of gomala land

34 acres of pasture land worth Rs 230 crore 'missing' in Subramanyapura

The criminal nexus between revenue officers, land sharks and local politicians has reduced 44 acres of Gomala land in and around Subramanyapura Lake in Uttarahalli to just 10 acres and 20 guntas.

Thanks to the sketchy survey map prepared by the surveyors and attested by the tahsildar, at least 33 acres and 20 guntas of pasture land in survey number 64 of Uttarahalli village has gone missing, whose present market value is about Rs 230 crore.

The old survey map prepared in 1904 shows the Gomala land to be 44 acres, while the new one shows it as 10 acres and 20 guntas.

Following the High Court direction to protect the water body, the then deputy commissioner G C Prakash notified the 'pasture land' as part of the lake two months ago.

According to the new map, 18 guntas of private land in survey number 120; 1.25 acres of pasture land in survey number 6 of Marasandra village; six guntas of land in survey number 63-2 and four guntas of land in survey number 14 are shown as being part of the water body, when in reality, they are clearly outside the borders of the lake.

The revenue officers who prepared the dubious map put extra efforts to prepare a miniature sketch that looks exactly like the 44 acres of Gomala land.

The attempt to tamper records can also be seen in the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crop (RTC).

The RTC shows the extent of survey number 64 of Uttarahalli village, which nestles Subramanyapura Lake, as 18 acres and six guntas and not 10 acres and 20 guntas as shown in the new map. 

The RTC is also a proof that there were several attempts to grab the pasture land of Subramanyapura Lake in the last 20 years as its extent reduced from 44 acres to 18 acres and six guntas in government records.

In their efforts to prepare a fictitious map, the surveyors and officers of the Revenue department did not bring in the road that leads to Gubbalala village.

The century-old village map precisely shows the road leading to Gubbalala village through the pasture land, which exists even today.

Siddaiah surprised

The most disturbing fact is that the dubious map of the Subramanyapura Lake threatens individuals whose properties are in survey numbers 120, 63-2 and 14 as they are shown right in the middle of the water body, which is not true. The old map shows that the land in these survey numbers is away from the water body.

Presently, those people who have their houses in these survey numbers may bear the brunt of criminal collusion, whenever the government conducts an eviction drive, as their houses will be demolished first.

In the proceedings of the meeting held on January 10, 2013, in connection with the Subramanyapura Lake, which was later submitted to the High Court of Karnataka to show progress in protecting the water body, Siddaiah had expressed surprise over the presence of private land inside the water body.

The proceedings sub-titled 'Reviewing status of survey number 120 within Subramanyapura Lake’ read, “The Commissioner, BBMP, also pointed out that in the survey sketch, 20 guntas of private land (survey number 120, in the name of Yadalam Subbaiah Shetty and Sons) has been recorded.

He expressed surprise over the presence of private interests in the lake bed. Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban, was directed to look into the matter. He also directed him to initiate action as per law in this matter.”