Palike not to raze Darshan's house, Shamanur hospital

To refer matter to Bengaluru Urban DC for further action

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided not to demolish Kannada actor Darshan’s house and Shamanur Shivashankarappa Hospital, which have encroached upon the stormwater drain (SWD) in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar.

The Palike has also decided not to raze buildings at Ideal Homes Layout. The civic body opted to send all the documents to the Deputy Commissioner (Bengaluru Urban) for further action.

Recently, Joint Director of Land Records (JDLR) K Jayaprakash had submitted his report to the BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad stating that seven acres and 31 guntas of stormwater drain has been encroached upon in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar .

Prasad told DH that the Ideal Homes layout and the hospital were approved way back in 1969 by the then Bangalore City Improvement Trust Board (CITB). In 1989, the revised plan was approved by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

Rajarajeshwari Pratisthapana Samithi filed a public interest litigation in the High Court in 2003 seeking cancellation of the layout as it was encroaching upon the government land. The court then directed the BDA and the Bengaluru Urban district authorities to probe the matter.

“The investigation revealed that seven acres and six guntas of government land has been encroached upon. The BDA submitted in the court that there were 63 sites including Shamanur Shivashankarappa Hospital on the encroached land. In 2007, the developers of Ideal Homes layout approached the High Court. It is not known what has happened thereafter,” said Prasad.

He said that the survey report of the JDLR and other documents including the proceedings of the BDA and High Court have been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district V Shankar for further action.

Recently, Law Minister T B Jayachandra had stated that there was no encroachment by Darshan and Shamanur Shivashankarappa Hospital. With the JDLR report on encroachment, it has become clear that the hospital and Ideal Homes layout are located on the stormwater drain and government land.

Encroachment removal drive resumes
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Thursday resumed the drive to remove encroachments on stormwater drains (SWDs).
At present, the BBMP is only taking possession of the vacant sites where stormwater drains once existed in Myadarahalli in Shettihalli ward in north Bengaluru. BBMP chief engineer (SWDs) Siddegowda said, “From Friday we will start demolishing buildings.”
He said the encroachment removal drive on vacant sites was on for the last two days. Buildings were not touched as there were no adequate police forces available to take up the task following violence in the city over the Cauvery issue.