Bengaluru: Thanisandra razing to help 'VIP land' access, say residents

Bengaluru: The Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) encroachment clearance drive in Thanisandra, in the city’s northeast, has left a trail of flattened homes and teary-eyed residents. 

While the agency maintains it is reclaiming government land in accordance with court orders, serious allegations have surfaced from the ground. 

In an early-morning operation on Thursday, BDA officials, with a posse of 200 police personnel in tow, swooped down on Gupta Layout and Vidyasagar Layout, near Saraipalya, razing at least 36 structures, over 25 of them houses. The operation uprooted over 40 families. 

Displaced residents allege that the sudden urgency to clear these specific survey numbers (28/1 and 28/2) is not for public utility, but rather to facilitate a 100-foot-wide access road for a 14-acre private landholding reportedly belonging to a powerful minister in the state government. 

Currently, the private property has a 15-foot approach road that passes through these survey numbers. 

A compound wall has been built around it.  Nasir Ahmed, one of the residents, said: “That land is adjacent and belongs to a powerful minister.” 

Many residents echoed him, saying the demolition drive was aimed at facilitating access to the property. 

The drive follows a similar operation in the nearby Kogilu Layout that left dozens of families displaced. 

The crux of the dispute lies in a direct conflict between private ownership documents and state acquisition claims. Residents claim their occupancy dates back to the mid-1990s. They claim they possess registered sale deeds, have paid property taxes to the BBMP for decades, and hold legal utility connections. 

Conversely, the BDA asserts the land was officially notified for Arkavathi Layout in 2004. According to the agency, any subsequent private sale or construction on this land is unauthorised. 

According to the BDA, the clearance is the result of a two-decade-long legal process. The land was part of the Arkavathi Layout project, with the preliminary notification issued on February 3, 2003, and the final notification on February 23, 2004. The BDA claims possession was first taken in November 2004, and that the original landowners have already accepted compensation. 

The high court’s orders in 2014 and 2021 reaffirmed the BDA’s rights over Arkavathi Layout. The court-appointed Keshavanarayan Committee reviewed the claims of 33 site owners who alleged they had purchased the land legally. On February 16, 2023, after hearing the matter, the committee declared the sales illegal and directed the BDA to take possession. 

The BDA alleges that the structures cleared were “illegal sheds” rather than primary residences. They claim the site owners were not living there but were instead collecting rent from third parties on BDA-owned land. 

BDA officials claim they arranged shelter for the evictees at a nearby community hall, deployed mobile toilets and provided food and water. 

Many residents questioned the claim, saying many evictees are sleeping on the road, with food provided by NGOs.