Teachers stage dharna in Chintamani

The protesters alleged that the approach to Gurubhavan, located at Bangalore circle in the heart of the City, has been blocked owing mushrooming of several petty shops on the access road. The garbage disposed from these establishments has been causing nuisance to the public.

The matter has reached the local court, district court and ultimately, the High Court of Karnataka has directed eviction of the shops. The eviction operation should have been conducted on Sunday in pursuance of the orders of the High Court. The City Municipal Council had issued notice to owners of the shop to vacate the place and majority of them had conveyed their consent to vacate on their own, to the president of City Municipal Council and police authorities, the said.

However, the protesters started dharna as eviction operation did not commence on Sunday. The officers of the City Municipal Council informed that the they had made all arrangements to carry out the operation but had to keep it in abeyance following an oral direction from the Deputy Commissioner to grant some more time.

Deputy Commissioner Anwar Pasha, Assistant Commissioner G V Seenappa, Deputy Superintendent of Police Govindaiah and Block Education Officer K Manjunath held a meeting with the protesters at Travellers’ Bungalow in the evening. They said that steps will be taken to evict the shops in pursuance of the court orders and the property of Gurubhavan will be surveyed to detect and clear any encroachment.

The protesters, upon informing of the decision, insisted that the Deputy Commissioner should come to the spot. However, the dharna was withdrawn with BEO Manjunath, president of Government Employees Association Narayana Reddy and DySP Govindaiah succeeding in convincing the protesters.