The busy bylanes adjoining Sarakki lake, which had turned into a prime real estate hub boasting multiple ‘lake view’ apartments in recent years, have now been reduce to rubble, as dream homes are being razed to the ground.
Not all who have lost their homes are encroachers. In fact, most of them are the gullible lot who bought flats and plots from developers, invested their life’s savings, took loans and built their dream homes, only to see them being demolished by the giant arm of an earthmover on Thursday.
Ramachandra S., a senior citizen, was moved to tears as Revenue officials started demolishing the apartment which was his home. “I bought the flat four years ago, investing my retirement money and taking a loan of Rs. 8 lakh. Now, my flat is gone and my family is on the streets. I still have to repay the loan,” he rued. Mr. Ramachandra said the builder from whom he bought the flat has been incommunicado for a week now and he had no hopes of recovering the money from him.
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Mahesh Kumar is one of the oldest property holders in the area as his father bought the land from Shambappa, the then landlord of Jaraganahalli, in 1982. Mr. Mahesh Kumar constructed an apartment complex, Siri Lakeview, with 15 flats in 2013. Revenue officials are now demolishing nearly half of the building, threatening the stability of the whole structure.
“I have got the building plan approval. I have paid all taxes. I have taken loans on the building as well. It’s no fault of mine, but I am morally responsible for all those who bought the flats and are now on the streets,” he lamented.
Revenue officials served notices to all the property holders in March and had notified the date of eviction. As a result, of most of them had vacated their houses by Thursday morning. But there were a few who were still living and the eviction drive put them in a quandary.
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Property owners employ private engineers
Property owners were seen employing private civil engineers and cutters to clear encroachments on their own. In buildings where the encroachments were to an extent of only a few feet, property owners feared that a careless removal of encroachments could threaten the stability and aesthetics of the structure and hence employed private engineers for the work.
Desperate residents claim they have court stay
There was tension when property owners tried to block the demolition drive claiming they had injunction orders from the court. Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru (Urban), V. Shankar, however, said these injunctions were from civil courts obtained before the High Court order of 2014 and were not valid.