By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Bangalore University has decided to take the help of Bengaluru Urban district administration to reclaim almost 100 acres of encroached lands on its Jnana Bharathi campus.

On December 19, 2016, Higher Education Minister Basavaraja Rayareddi had directed the varsity to take a step in this direction. And BU registrar (administration) Prof K N Ningegowda has prepared a detailed report on the land encroachment.

According to available information, of the 1,112 acres of the university, at least 100 acres have been encroached on by various people, including politicians, local leaders and real estate firms.

The registrar’s report states that a graveyard, several temples, private layouts, commercial complexes, petrol pumps, schools and colleges and hospitals have come up on the encroached land. An interesting find was that the BBMP encroached on a portion of BU land to construct a park. The report will be submitted to Bengaluru Urban DC V Shankar and also to the Higher Education Minister soon.

Though the varsity has all the land documents, many of the alleged encroachers approached the court and filed cases. “There is no question of leaving out those cases; the university will continue to fight in the court,” a senior BU official said.

Before taking up encroachment removal, the district administration will conduct a resurvey of the entire BU land.

A few acres of BU land have been leased to national institutes like National Assessment and Accreditation Council, National Law School India University, Atomic Energy Department, etc.