Bidar: "Over 200 acres of land belonging to the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board in Bangalore has been encroached upon. We will take it back and distribute it among the poor," board chairman and MLA Rajendra Verma has said.

This had happened because of the irresponsibility of the officials and action would be taken against them, he told presspersons here on Tuesday.

A high-power committee had been constituted to look into the matter. It would comprise five officials including those of the board, the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation and the Karnataka Housing Board. The committee would tour the State and see whether the board's properties have been encroached upon, Mr. Verma said.

The board would also act as the nodal agency for providing houses to the poor and basic amenities in areas where they are settled. It would also launch the second phase of the Nirmal Jyoti sanitation scheme in slum areas. Some schemes of the Centre would also be implemented, he said.

"We will spend nearly Rs. 74 crore on developing slum areas across the State. As much as Rs. 3.2 crore will be spent in Bidar district," he said.

The programme will be inaugurated in Bidar on May 10.

The board had received complaints that districts in north Karnataka were being neglected. Efforts would be made to set right such anomalies by building more houses in those districts, he added.

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