<div>Over 15,000 residents of Modi Garden Layout at DJ Halli in east Bengaluru were in for a shock on Monday when defence personnel from the adjacent Parachute Regiment Training Centre bulldozed the asphalt road linking them to Kaval Byrasandra. The road, which is on defence land, was to be maintained by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), according to a High Court order of 2010. However, the defence authorities claimed that it is their property and the BBMP can’t build a road there and, were thus demolishing it.<br /><br />After the road was ‘destroyed,’ people gathered in large numbers outside Gate 1 of the Parachute Regiment Training Centre and raised slogans against the Army. As tension prevailed in the area, Mayor Padmavathi, Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, DJ Halli ward corporator R Sampathraj, Bengaluru Urban district Deputy Commissioner V Shankar, Additional Commissioner of Police (East) P Harishekaran and others rushed there. They held an emergency meeting with Brigadier Saini, Commandant of Parachute Regiment Training Centre and other defence officials to discuss the issue.<br /><br />After the meeting, Sampathraj said, “The defence authorities have agreed to do the metalling of the road and make it motorable, starting from tomorrow. The BBMP will take up the work of the drain and streetlights on the stretch.” Those who had driven their vehicles out on smooth roads in the morning found rubble on their way back. A resident, S S Pasha said, “The army people are not maintaining the road or handing it over to BBMP. The place has become an island with no access.”<br /><br />In November, Sampathraj began the road work at a cost of Rs 40 lakh after getting the plan approved by the BBMP chief engineer. Work on the 900-metre-long and 40-foot-wide road had been going on unopposed for almost a month. The asphalting was almost complete when the defence personnel on Monday used bulldozers to destroy the road. <br /><br />Many residents along the road had voluntarily demolished parts of their own houses to make way for the drain and the road. Velu V, his two brothers and their families were living in a house that measured 850 square metres. When the road was proposed, they voluntarily demolished a part of their house to make way for it. “Fifteen of us are now living in the remaining 700 square metre space. All we wanted was a proper road,” Velu said. <br /><br />For years, the residents only had a kachcha road without streetlights to reach Kaval Byrasandra. “We cannot go out alone after dark. There are so many cases of women being harassed. It is very unsafe for us,” said Gayathri D, another resident of the area.</div>
<div>Over 15,000 residents of Modi Garden Layout at DJ Halli in east Bengaluru were in for a shock on Monday when defence personnel from the adjacent Parachute Regiment Training Centre bulldozed the asphalt road linking them to Kaval Byrasandra. The road, which is on defence land, was to be maintained by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), according to a High Court order of 2010. However, the defence authorities claimed that it is their property and the BBMP can’t build a road there and, were thus demolishing it.<br /><br />After the road was ‘destroyed,’ people gathered in large numbers outside Gate 1 of the Parachute Regiment Training Centre and raised slogans against the Army. As tension prevailed in the area, Mayor Padmavathi, Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, DJ Halli ward corporator R Sampathraj, Bengaluru Urban district Deputy Commissioner V Shankar, Additional Commissioner of Police (East) P Harishekaran and others rushed there. They held an emergency meeting with Brigadier Saini, Commandant of Parachute Regiment Training Centre and other defence officials to discuss the issue.<br /><br />After the meeting, Sampathraj said, “The defence authorities have agreed to do the metalling of the road and make it motorable, starting from tomorrow. The BBMP will take up the work of the drain and streetlights on the stretch.” Those who had driven their vehicles out on smooth roads in the morning found rubble on their way back. A resident, S S Pasha said, “The army people are not maintaining the road or handing it over to BBMP. The place has become an island with no access.”<br /><br />In November, Sampathraj began the road work at a cost of Rs 40 lakh after getting the plan approved by the BBMP chief engineer. Work on the 900-metre-long and 40-foot-wide road had been going on unopposed for almost a month. The asphalting was almost complete when the defence personnel on Monday used bulldozers to destroy the road. <br /><br />Many residents along the road had voluntarily demolished parts of their own houses to make way for the drain and the road. Velu V, his two brothers and their families were living in a house that measured 850 square metres. When the road was proposed, they voluntarily demolished a part of their house to make way for it. “Fifteen of us are now living in the remaining 700 square metre space. All we wanted was a proper road,” Velu said. <br /><br />For years, the residents only had a kachcha road without streetlights to reach Kaval Byrasandra. “We cannot go out alone after dark. There are so many cases of women being harassed. It is very unsafe for us,” said Gayathri D, another resident of the area.</div>
