To fully enjoy the duality of Sanjaynagar is to sit in its parks listening to walkers analyse a cricket match or the sordid political developments. Or to stand on New BEL Road observing frantic shoppers and satiated diners emerging out of the many high-end outlets there.
A pensioner finds his space in the many parks and spiritual places of the area, while the youth are spoilt for choice in the eateries, spas, bars and shopping complexes in Sanjaynagar.
Nestled between the bustling New BEL Road and the crowded Sanjaynagar Main Road, lies the placid residential area of Sanjaynagar — an agglomeration of colonies like CIL, AECS, NGEF, HAL, PNT, Jaladarshini, Ashrama, and even the curiously named Dollars Colony, which was land allotted to Non-Resident Indians during the mid-80s.
Once a paddy field
Shivanna Venkataraman, a chronic pain specialist, who has been in the area since 1978, recalls childhood memories of playing cricket by the paddy fields and the woods of the area.
“From our house, we could see paddy fields for miles. When my mother took my brothers to school, they had to traverse through the muck of the paddy fields to reach the school on BEL Road,” he says.
The area was once a beautiful village, he says. “There were agricultural fields between the hutments of Geddalahalli, Nagashettyhalli and Lottegollahalli. Amidst the fields and dense greenery were two lakes — Geddalahalli and Nagashettyhalli — both of which have dried up completely,” Shivanna reminisces.
Real estate boom
Their site bought for Rs. 7,000 in 1976 has now inflated to more than Rs. 1.6 crore — a reflection of the phenomenal growth of the area. As the rich and the powerful moved in — with Sanjaynagar housing a multitude of politicians, including the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa — the area saw a boom in real estate.
In the 90s, tree parks were developed along the Rainwater Canals, as is seen in Dollars Colony now.
By the turn of the millennium, several parks mushroomed, including one developed underneath high tension wires. However, a large number of people who were instrumental in the construction of Sanjaynagar as it is now, were excluded almost entirely from its growth, and now even face the possibility of eviction.
A slum holds on
In a small plot of land, more than 300 people reside in 65 sheds. “Since I moved here more than 30 years ago, I have seen the area transform from a forest to a prime residential area,” says 70-year-old Bhagyamma, a waste collector.
Residents of this slum will soon be given new accommodation in Parappana Agrahara, but Bhagyamma and many others seem reluctant to move. “Those who have helped build the houses in the area have to go away, whereas those with money can always build bungalows and stay here,” she says. Only a few decades ago, Bhagyamma says, across the road from the slum were huts and woods.
Now, a mansion sprawls there on land that is more than twice the area of the entire slum.
In the dichotomous image of a woman in a faded sari preparing to vacate her make-shift home (another bungalow would probably come up here soon, she says caustically), lies the story of Sanjaynagar, a village of paddy fields edged out by the well-heeled.
