Land-grab notices slapped on Shamanur hospital, Darshan

Respond in 7 days or we'll raze your buildings: Dist authorities

The Bengaluru Urban district administration has given seven days to the Shamanur Shivashan-karappa Hospitals and Kannada actor Darshan Thoogu- deepa to respond to the accusation of encroaching on a stormwater drain at Halagevaderahalli in Raja-rajeshwari Nagar, west Bengaluru.

Notices have also been served on the owners of 70 other houses in Ideal Homes Layout. The authorities said they would be at liberty to demolish the buildings if the “encroachers” failed to convince them about the legality of the structures. The notices were released on Wednesday and handed over to the property owners on Thursday.

Ideal Homes Layout was formed on 233 acres and 21 guntas of land, with the second stage coming up on 53 acres and 34 guntas. A wasteland (kharab land), including a stormwater drain, passes through seven acres and 31 guntas, according to the authorities.

Around a decade ago, the affected people had filed a writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka which directed the district authorities to review the matter and take a decision. Accordingly, the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban heard the case and directed the property owners to not take up any construction until the matter is resolved. In the final order in August 2014, the deputy commissioner directed the officials in the department of survey, settlement and land records to survey the wasteland in survey numbers 38 to 46 and 51 to 56.

The survey revealed that the hospital and Darshan have encroached on 22 guntas and two guntas, respectively. The hospital is run by S S Hospitals Pvt Ltd which is linked to former minister and Congress MLA from Davangere South, Shivashankarappa.

In the latest notice, Bengaluru South Tahsildar S M Shivakumar has stated that the buildings would be demolished and the entire cost of razing the structures would be slapped on property owners if they failed to present their case with genuine documents within seven days of receiving the notice. In addition, criminal action will be initiated under section 192 (A) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. DH’s efforts to contact Darshan and the hospital management for their comment did not bear fruit.