After a 12-year wait, nine land ‘owners’ in Chikkathogur village in Bangalore South taluk are protesting non-allotment of sites. They alleg that the allotment was pending, despite payment and possession of hakku pathras.
According to the property owners, many of the around 950 sites allotted by the State government between 1972 and 1974 in the village have been hit by the delay.
Rajendra Kumar — one of the nine owners of 30x40 sites in sy nos 13, 17, 19 and 20 of Chikkathogur village — who are pushing their case with the Revenue department, alleged that the delay was in violation of a High Court verdict. “After the initial allotment of sites, the Panchayat had filed a case for cancellation of the allotment. In 1994, the court gave a verdict favouring the allottees. It was in 1995 that I bought a site from an allottee by paying around Rs 60,000 and we have the documents in place,” he told Deccan Herald.
Road as reason
Mr Kumar said that it was during a visit to the Banashankari tahsildar’s office for payment of taxes, that he was told that the allotments had been cancelled. “The tahsildar told us that the land would now be taken for a road that the Government proposed to construct,” he said.
When asked on why there was no communication with regard to the cancellation, the tahsildar referred to a newspaper advertisement published in this connection but refused to divulge the date of publication, he said. “Till date, there has been no mention of compensation either. Further, the sites are still vacant and there’s no sign of any development on the road front,” Mr Kumar claimed.
During the 12-year wait, the affected property owners have not explored the option of legal proceedings. “We are just hoping that the allotment finally happens. Even if it doesn’t, we are not looking at a compensation amount. We demand alternative sites,” he said.