The Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation has issued legal notices to 27 allottees of industrial land across the State for diverting land for commercial uses, according to the corporation’s new chairman B. Gurappa Naidu.
Government, local authorities and the police have been directed to cancel licences of these illegal commercial users, he said, on the sidelines of a news conference called on Saturday to announce the corporation’s golden jubilee this year.
The land units meant for entrepreneurs were allotted in the 1960s. In the city’s Rajajinagar Industrial Estate, for example, commercial structures such as schools and marriage halls have been built on a few allotments.
The 27 cases may be the tip of an iceberg in the State which has 175 industrial estates, Dr. Naidu said.
“We don’t want schoolchildren or the public going to such illegal commercial places to be exposed to hazardous activities or fumes coming out of industries that are around them,” Dr. Naidu said. “Nor can the allottees change the original purpose of land use. We have written to the Police Commissioner, Commisioner of Public Instruction, Corporation Commissioner and the local police about the issue. We want to cancel the licences given to these commercial establishments built within industrial estates.”
The KSSIDC, which turns 50 this year, has so far created six lakh jobs across the State. On December 23, the Chief Minister will inaugurate the golden jubilee event where the corporation will unveil its action plan, Dr. Naidu said.
