B’luru lake activist booked under charges of provoking riots for post against BBMP

The Bengaluru police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Lake Activist Sandeep Anirudhan at the Whitefield Police Station based on a complaint by the city’s civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The activist has for long contended that a road project in the Pattandur Agrahara area of the city falls in the buffer zone of a lake. The BBMP has denied such a lake exists.
“None of the social media posts incites rioting in any form and the illegal road formation works have been continuously progressing since October 2021 up until now. Neither I nor anyone else has obstructed that work, even though it is illegal,” Sandeep Anirudhan said.
The BBMP contends that the road is not being built in the lake buffer area. However, the revised master plan of the BBMP in 2015 does not mention that there is a lake at all. While the subsequent report rectified this error, this is something that Sandeep had raised.
The BBMP complaint filed against Sandeep states, “While there is a clear marking of the Road Alignment in the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2015, Sandeep Anirudhan is obstructing the government’s work by false propaganda through media stating that the road is being formed on the lake buffer area. The RMP-2015 does not indicate any existence of the lake.”
“Sandeep Anirudhan is falsely claiming the withdrawn Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP-2031). He is instigating the public at large to oppose the government-financed public work, alleging the BBMP, especially the Road Infrastructure division’s role,” the complaint added.