The Hindu : BMP recovers land on Sultanpalya Road

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 16, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

BMP recovers land on Sultanpalya Road

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Dec. 15. The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) staff with the assistance of local police and Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) removed illegal encroachments on a 30,000 sq. ft. land on Sultanpalya Main Road in Kavalbyrasandra ward on Sunday.

According to a press release from the BMP Commissioner, M.R.Sreenivas Murthy, the value of the property was estimated at Rs. 2 crore. After the eviction, the BMP fenced the site and installed a BMP board.

The police said 33 persons were arrested when they prevented the eviction operation. According to police, members of a dalit organisation had put up a makeshift tent and installed a statue of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar at the encroached site.

However, the Dalitha Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) has alleged that the BMP authorities and the police had vandalised the Ambedkar statue. They staged a dharna in front of the Chief Minister's residence and submitted a memorandum.

The samithi's Bangalore District Convenor, Siddalingaiah, claimed that the land was allotted to them in 1964 and that they even had "hakku patras" (possession certificates) signed by the then Village Panchayat President.

Responding to the charge, the BMP Deputy Commissioner (East), Babu Rao Mudbi, told The Hindu that the statue was intact and placed safely in the BMP office premises. "We have lifted the statue carefully and have kept it in our office premises. We have not caused any harm to the statue," he said.

He said the DSS documents were not valid and the land actually belonged to the BMP. "An India Population Project (IPP) centre is also constructed beside the disputed site. It was included in the BMP limits in 1967 when the State Government expanded the City's boundaries," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sultanpalya Residents' Welfare Association has thanked the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Commissioner for his timely action in evicting the illegal encroachments on the land earmarked for a public park in Sultanpalya.

In a press release, the association President, Shankar Poti, has said that the BMP had identified this land to be utilised as a civic amenity site, especially for a public park. "However, some vested interests claimed ownership of the land and set up a tent on it overnight under some dalit organisation's name," Mr. Poti said.

"They suddenly installed a statue of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar on the land to claim ownership. Sultanpalya, a peaceful middle-class locality in R.T.Nagar, has several apartment complexes. But there is no public park in the locality. So, we urge the BMP to immediately develop the site into a park," he said.

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