BENGALURU: Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh on Monday said all lake encroachments in Karnataka will be cleared, and green fencing will be installed over the next two months. She urged officials to coordinate efforts ahead of Vanamahotsava.
“The CM had a sabha, and as part of this, in the next two months, in campaign mode, revenue and other departments will remove the encroachments and green fence the lakes in the state,” said Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh on Monday.
Requesting and giving an order to govt officials, she said, “Vanamahotsava is soon to arrive, and having green fencing will ensure plants will protect lakes. We should ensure the development of our land in coordination with the public, not just looking at the schemes, but finding innovative solutions to existing problems. Consider this a request or even an order,” she added.
She was addressing officials of various departments from 31 districts of the state at the workshop on geospatial applications for district level at IISc.
Rajaneesh added that innovative solutions like the one used in Kalagattagi in Dharwad should be explored.
“The river there was to be desilted. Interdepartmental coordination ensured we had a list of JCB owners and reached out to them and provided diesel as well, and eventually came out with a scheme called Kere Sanjeevani. NGOs came in to support eventually,” she said, explaining how involving the community can drive significant change.
She encouraged departments to coordinate and desilt all rivers in the state to ensure there is optimal water catchment when the monsoon arrives.