The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Court orders removal of encroachments on beach

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Court orders removal of encroachments on beach

Staff Reporter

DC told to remove illegal structures within two months

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi to remove within two months all encroachments on the Malpe beach in Udupi.

A Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi, and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by K. Murthy of Bangalore seeking removal of encroachments, including hutments, on the beach.

The petitioner, a devotee of Lord Krishna of Udupi, said it was customary for the devotees to bathe on the beach during `Amavaysa.' When he visited the beach in September, he saw that several huts had come up illegally. Some of the hut dwellers had come to the beach after they were evicted by the Goa Government from beaches in that State.

He urged the court to direct the authorities to take steps to evict the encroachers and remove the illegal constructions.

The Government, in its statement of objection, said no permanent structures had come up on the beach. It said the residents had constructed temporary huts for pilgrims and visitors during festivals. These structures were later dismantled. It said some fishermen had constructed temporary huts to repair their fishing nets.

The petitioner disputed the Government's stand and said some structures were yet to be demolished. The Bench had on June 20 directed the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) to visit the site and submit a status report. The Deputy Commissioner was asked to indicate in his report what steps would be taken to demolish the illegal structures and the time frame by which they would be demolished. When the matter came up, the Bench took note of the status report in which the Deputy Commissioner identified the hutments that had unauthorisedly come up after the area had come under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations.

It directed the Deputy Commissioner to remove within two months the hutments and adjourned further hearing on the case to October 17.

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