Political shades are emerging in the controversy surrounding land ownership at Gidadakonenahalli, where the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) demolished 289 houses on Monday to make way for its Visvesvaraya Layout.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah, senior Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa and the former Minister B. Somashekhara visited Gidadakonenahalli near Bangalore University on Wednesday and extended their support to those whose houses were demolished. Mr. Siddaramaiah termed the BDA demolition illegal and demanded that the BDA should compensate their loss.
Garnering support
Even as the Congress leaders' visit was in progress, local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders busied themselves drumming up support for BDA by getting another group of local residents to testify before the media against those whose houses were demolished.
As each side produced a cache of documents to support its claim, the truth about ownership became harder to ascertain about this prime residential property measuring 43.12 acres, less than three km from the Outer Ring Road.
Claims, counter-claims
Speaking on behalf of those whose houses were demolished, Anjanappa (36) produced a High Court order dated October 17, 2008 saying the court had ruled in their favour.
He claimed that the land was allotted to them by the Government in 1975 and, in 2003, the BDA acquired it forcibly and demolished their houses to form the new layout.
His supporters, who produced title deeds and possession certificates issued by the Revenue Department to support their claim, also produced the copy of a letter purportedly written by local MLA and Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
The letter asks the Mayor to provide Rs. 50 lakh for the construction of water pipelines and electricity lines for the houses.
Speaking to The Hindu , those ousted claimed they had been living here for over 40 years. Interestingly, the debris of the structures showed that they had been built using hollow cement bricks.
Fake title deeds
A BDA official, who alleged that the structures cropped up only recently, pointed out that hollow cement bricks were not around 40 years ago. Senior revenue officials told The Hindu the title deeds and possession certificates produced by these claimants are fake. A local shop owner, who was introduced to this reporter by some BJP activists, alleged that a major land grab is being orchestrated.
A few months ago, some locally influential persons were going about recruiting people willing to build small temporary structures on the BDA land. “I have lived here for the last 36 years and have never seen these people,” she said.
Even as Mr. Siddaramaiah and his party colleagues alleged that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was behind all this, the Lokayukta has conducted a preliminary enquiry. Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde told The Hindu that his Director of Vigilance for Town Planning and Chief Engineer had visited the area on Tuesday.
“Naturally, there is a lot of sympathy for those whose houses were demolished but this is not a straightforward case. We will make a fair enquiry and submit our findings at the earliest,” he said.
