Kogilu eviction puts spotlight on Bengaluru's housing policy

Bengaluru: Human rights activists, including civic leaders, backed the state government’s decision to provide alternative housing to displaced families, stating that the government should ensure similar facilities are extended to all homeless people.

Pointing out that Bengaluru does not have an adequate number of housing facilities, they also called on the government to promote large-scale rental housing complexes to support migrant populations who lack resources to immediately purchase homes.

Narasimha Murthy, who has been actively engaged in social issues in the city, said the government must provide basic amenities, including shelter, to citizens, which is also a right guaranteed under the Constitution.

“In the case of Kogilu Layout, the demolition was carried out without providing alternatives,” he said, adding that the government is also within its rights to evict families if they refuse to accept alternative housing.

Advocate Vinay Sreenivasa said the Kogilu incident shows Bengaluru’s acute housing crisis. “It’s the duty of the government to ensure the citizens including migrants have a decent place to live. In Bengaluru, the situation is so bad that people in slums bathe in the open. There are cases where they pay neighbours to charge their phones because there is no electricity connection,” he said, adding it’s the migrants which are keeping the city clean and doing work that rich folks won’t. 

These responses come at a time when questions are being raised over the allotment of sites to affected families as a special gesture, with the opposition BJP terming it an attempt to appease minorities.

BJP leader Padmanabha Reddy said the government did not show similar concern while evicting hundreds of families in KG Halli, who predominantly belonged to SC/ST communities. Similarly, around 150 families residing in Janaki Ram Layout near Banaswadi have also received demolition notices to make way for a railway project. “The government must extend humanitarian gestures to all displaced families, especially those who have been residing in Bengaluru for several decades,” he said.

An official from the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation said the agency has about 64 housing projects in Bengaluru, comprising a total of 45,000 one-BHK flats. “As many as 7,890 flats are ready for occupation, but we are not seeing buyers in large numbers,” he said, adding that demand was also not particularly weak.

Both the Housing Corporation and the Karnataka Slum Development Board build compact flats for economically weaker sections. These are offered at a subsidised cost of Rs 11.2 lakh, but the flats measure just 365 sq ft. Some of the apartment complexes rise to 20 floors, making them unattractive due to frequent lift breakdowns.

Urbanist Ashwin Mahesh suggested the government should consider setting aside 30% of housing projects — including those developed by Karnataka Housing Board and Bangalore Development Authority — for group rental complexes.

“We are seeing individual homeowners converting their properties into rentals. This does not solve the problem at scale. The government must designate certain pockets exclusively for rentals. This will encourage renting, as home ownership is becoming unaffordable,” he said, adding the Kogilu issue reflects city’s broader housing shortage.