It had to have been something drastic that led to Bhangi community members in Savanur to pour faeces over their heads as a sign of protest. “We wanted ‘pattas'(land records) of our houses, drinking water and some hygiene around us. So we repeatedly requested the municipal authorities to help us. Their indifference, ill treatment and rude behaviour forced us to stage the protest,” said Krishna Obalesh Bhangi, who was one among the three persons who staged the ‘foul' protest in front of the Savanur Municipality Office on Tuesday. Manjunath Babu Bhangi and Nagaraj Khalayappa Bhangi were the other two.
Another Bhangi community member, Nagamma Babu Bhangi, said the trouble began after they objected to the local council member Altaf Dukandar's plans of erecting a fish stall in front of their houses at Kaman Bangadi in Savanur.
Around 40 members of fourteen families reside in seven houses at Kaman Bangadi.
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The Bhangi families first approached the authorities seeking ‘patta' (land records) in their names seven months ago. Meanwhile local council members kept telling them to move out to make way for the commercial complex. Last month, the water supply connection to their houses were cut twice.
However, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who represents the constituency, said the Savanur Town Municipal Council had neither taken a decision to build a commercial complex at Kaman Bangadi nor had a notice been issued to the Bhangi families on the issue. Their protest has spurred the authorities into action by getting sites allotted to them and beginning the process of constructing houses for them. However, the community has decided not to move.