Close to 160 families residing in Bhuvaneshwarinagar in Uttarahalli ward were in for a rude shock on Friday morning as Karnataka Slum Development Board officials began evicting them.
While officials said the families occupied the apartments illegally, residents alleged that the action is politically motivated.
In 2019, the Karnataka Slum Development Board finished building 48 apartment blocks consisting of 864 houses in an erstwhile slum with 420 families. As the construction suffered delays, some residents occupied apartments that were nearly complete. The actual number of beneficiaries were not immediately known.
As board officials began removing items from a few houses, crowds of protesters swelled near the apartment, forcing them to abort the eviction. By Friday evening, officials sealed down around two dozen houses and snapped power connection to some apartment blocks.
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Imran Pasha alleged that the eviction was politically motivated. “The board started evicting a few families to accommodate people who vote for the two national parties. When close to 400 policemen arrived at the spot, majority of residents had left for work,” he said. These residents, Pasha said, were living here ever since the apartment was ready four years ago.
Officials of the Karnataka Slum Development Board did not respond to calls.
A BJP functionary at the Uttarahalli ward attributed the problem to change of governments, construction delays and ad hoc selection of beneficiaries. “There are close to 750 families living in these apartment blocks. The board is evicting only the ones that have not been allotted a house,” he said.
Manjunath R Swamy, an advocate who met the families, said the board had stopped taking demand drafts from the beneficiaries despite knowing that they lived in the apartment for the past four years. “The board should have issued a notice before starting the eviction drive,” he said.
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Published 22 April 2022, 20:00 IST