It was the experience of living with their mentally challenged daughter that made Rev Dr K C Abraham and his wife aware of the needs of similar children and their parents. Their response to the "tragedy" came in the form of providing a caring and loving space for these special children - the Lisa Home, located at Doddagubbi Village, Bidarahalli hobli on the outskirts of the City.

Sadly, Lisa Home itself is now staring in the face of another tragedy: The possibility of its own extinction. If the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) map on the ambitious Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) is anything to go by, then the PRR is set to plough through Lisa Home, annihilating the home, ruining the lives of 25-odd inmates and throwing them all on to the streets. To the government, the PRR could be about decongesting traffic and bettering the facilities in the Silicon Valley of India, but Lisa Home is the world, the only hope and last resort of the mentally challenged children and the aged (of the old age home) living there. 

Dr Abraham and his wife who have seen the home grow and add meaning to the lives of many, have been left shattered at the cruel turn of events. Where will the inmates go? What about all the years invested in terms of service, love and pain?

Rev Abraham says, "We are not thinking about an alternative, we are refusing to think about it. We will fight till the end. We have written to the government to change their decisions. They should realise that it is their responsibility to take care of this kind of children. We do not want compensation, we want our land back.”
The couple is determined to fight to the end and preserve their piece of land from being mowed down. "We understand that as per the proposed Peripheral Ring Road alignment, it would run through the building and the whole facility will be destroyed, besides our hard work for the past one decade. This would deprive these poor helpless children, of their home  and the opportunity for the care and development," says Ms Abraham, a general practitioner.

She has written to the BDA commissioner requesting that the government rework on the Peripheral Ring Road alignment.

“The authorities have been indifferent. We have invited the commissioner to visit us and he has not bothered to pay heed to our request. It is for them to think about alternatives not us,” explains Rev Abraham.
It will be a long battle before the government wakes up to the plea of the couple and the 25-odd children. The Abrahams' fervent plea for justice is buttressed backed by the hope and prayers of the inmates, who are confident that the government will see reason and change the road alignment. With their very existence in peril, the inmates of Lisa Home now seek strength from their inner selves. Given their indomitable spirit, the approaching doomsday, has not been able to dent their confidence. 

For the likes of Hazel Kurien, an inmate who lost her arms in an accident some years ago but still plays the piano (with an artificial arm) with dexterity and efficiency, it is just another battle for survival. 

Back to the street
Fear has overshadowed the lives of over 200 people at New Ark Mission of India who, from being homeless and abandoned, found solace in T Raja, aka Auto Raja’s home. But this, they feel might be shortlived. In the process of making Bangalore bigger, better and ‘greater’, this home, along with a few others in the Doddagubbi area might be forced to give up their space and move back to the streets. This, for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) that will be built across 1900 acres of land in the Doddagubbi area, off Hennur Main Road.

This latest PRR and Express Highway project that comes under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), will include bus depots and stations positioned across the entire spread of the ring road bringing the outskirts onto the main map of the City. But at a cost. This will wipe out everything that is ‘in the way of development’.

Doddagubbi houses several rehabilitation centres, homes for the mentally and physically challenged as well as the homeless. This project will require them to give up their land, building and residents who are taken care of and move to another place, if any. One such home is the New Ark Mission of India (NAMI) run by Auto Raja where the proposed PRR indicates the road running right through the home. “Every week the authority come up with a new plan and change the route of the peripheral ring road. One day they came up to our home and without informing any of us, marked the area to be used for the PRR and left. Since then, I have met the chief minister himself several times as well as other ministers but nothing has been done so far. Only promises to attempt to provide us with an alternative solution has come out of the meetings,” says Auto Raja.

The residents of Home of Hope as it is also referred to, seem to live in fear of getting back to the streets that led them to a life of misery for many years. “They even ask me if I am going to abandon them,” adds Raja.

NAMI is a place that takes in those who have lived on City streets for years, provide them with a roof over their heads along with helping them deal with illnesses. “We have men and women of all ages suffering from AIDS, cancer, TB, heart and kidney ailments, physically and mentally challenged children as well as people of very old age. They are brought to our homes, sometimes by us and other times, the police, in a very serious condition that almost always requires immediate medical attention. From then on, they become part of NAMI and my life,” says Raja who has made NAMI his home as well and resides there with his family which also includes the 225 residents.

Most residents of the home are not in a condition to be let alone to survive in the City and being in a home that provides them three meals a day, some attention and care is what is most needed.

“I ensure that women and residents who are very old do not have to go back to the life they had as women might get into the wrong job. As for those who are old, I want them to live a decent life till they meet their end. But with no other place to take them, it only seems like Bangalore streets is what they will get,” shares Raja.
But, according to Raja, it’s not going to be easy to send them away from their home. With regard to the PRR, he says he will put up a strong fight and not let his people down. “All I am asking for is space for my home in any kind of land. I will build it up to suit the requirements of my people. If they can’t give me land elsewhere, at least don’t take what I have. I have conveyed this to the concerned ministers and officials and even told them that if they don’t provide us with an alternative, they can kill us and build the road over all our dead bodies. It will probably make the road more durable and long lasting,” claims Raja.

According to Raja, taking away whatever little these residents have and putting them back from where they came seems to be part of development with no other solution in place as yet. Is this what makes for a greater Bangalore? Does development always has to come at a cost where one section of the society benefits by making another pay a heavy price?

The couple speak...
The Abrahams bought the agricultural land bearing Sy No 24/3, situated at Doddagubbi village, Bidarahalli hobli, Bangalore East Taluk, measuring 3750 sq feet and having HL No.139/1 with a building approximately measuring 100 sq feet under a registered sale deed dated 30/4/1995 in Document No.1322/1995-96 at pages 250-255 in Volume No l0BO, Book No 1 of the Krishnarajapuram Sub-registrar Office, from its original owners, Rajanna, Govindappa, Krishnappa, Narayanswamy, Giriyappa five years ago. They later built the two-storey Lisa Home.
“The Home takes care of persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Trust has been taking care of 25 brain injured children and poor women hailing Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh with the help of qualified persons and trained helpers,” says Ms Abraham.

Majority of the inmates are either orphaned, abandoned or are homeless. The inmates are trained in music, tailoring, crafts, farming. If they lose Lisa Home they have no other door to knock.

BDA Chairman’s Response
When asked about the fate of the two homes and if they will be compensated with land, the Bangalore Development Authority throw their hands up helplessly. Chairman and Commissioner, BDA,  Shankarlinge Gowda says, “There is no question of realigning the PRR from our end. Nothing has been done deliberately. It is a known fact that with development, people and land will be affected. We can’t think of another route but if the affected can come up with a technically feasible alternative we are willing to accept it. But until then we will go ahead with our plan.”

The present PRR realignment (about 1,900 acres) has been done as per the advise of Bangalore-based Alcon, the company that has been surveying the land. Gowda says the affected will be compensated for the loss of land based on the land value and structure of the building. “We will compensate with money. It is not for the government to think of an alternative and allocate land to the affected,” says Gowda.    

And what about those who will be brought back to the streets? “If we have to give 1900 acres of land in exchange for what we are taking, then even we have to borrow from somewhere else and where is the land to give?” asks Gowda.

Gowda says that the final notification for land acquisition for PRR will be sent out on May 18. As of now, it seems like the residents of the homes have to fend for themselves yet again as there is no alternate home for them to move to.