Davangere: 16 houses built on encroached land demolished

Davangere: A team of staff of the City Corporation on Tuesday razed down 16 houses that had been built encroaching the Vijayanagara park belonging to the urban local body.

The demolition drive was carried out using an earth-mover vehicle under police security, while many families opposed the clearance of the houses.

Ramappa's family had allegedly built 16 houses encroaching on the park land at Vijayanagar on Kondajji Road. After the encroachment was confirmed, the City Corporation had instructed them to vacate the houses.

Of these, three houses were cleared by the corporation staff a few days ago with residents been given time to vacate the remaining houses. However, the staff demolished the houses as they were not cleared within the stipulated time.

"We had built a house on our own land 25 years ago. We have all the documents including electricity bills and water bills for the houses. The house tax has also been paid. For the past five months, the officials have been calling this encroachment on government land and park land," said house owner Ramappa.

"The city corporation officials have cleared the houses without giving any notice. The police have dragged the women out of their houses and subjected them to violence. Our lives have been put on the streets," the residents lamented.