Mysuru: The district administration has stepped up the mapping and surveying of unassessed lakes and water bodies. Of the 2,991 lakes identified in the district, 1,449 have faced encroachment, with 1,472 acres of land encroached.During the ongoing encroachment clearance drive, district authorities have cleared about 80% of the lake encroachments.Officers said Periyapatna taluk has the highest number of encroached lakes.The SSLR has submitted a detailed status report on all lakes to the district administration and the district lake protection committee, headed by the deputy commissioner, to initiate conservation measures following the clearance of encroachments.“As most of the lakes were encroached on by land sharks, constructed schools, educational institutions, even petrol bunks, and some developed farm houses around the lakes, the district administration must step up its efforts to clear such encroachments after conducting a survey, other process initiate measures to protect the govt property,” Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Attahalli Devaraju told TOI.Deputy commissioner G Lakshmikanth Reddy said the administration has completed surveys of almost all lakes and cleared about 80% of encroachments. “It will complete the remaining 20% of the encroachment of lakes by the next four months. The district administration is also recording the removal of encroachments with geo-tagged evidence,” he told TOI.
