The Hindu: Bangalore: Sunday,
May 05, 2013.
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| ANXIOUS: Venkatesh, a resident of the EWS compound, shows documents pertaining to his house. Photo: K. Murali Kumar |
The Bruhat
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which had come under fire for demolishing
hundreds of homes in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quarters on prime
land in Ejipura in January, now appears to be at the centre of another
controversy. For, the civic authority, after handing over the 14 acres and 5.2
guntas of land, on which the homes stood, to Maverick Holdings Pvt. Ltd. for a
private-public-partnership (PPP) venture, is expected to hand over an
additional 1 acre and 21 guntas of adjoining land also to the builder.
This
information, obtained from the BBMP Engineer-in-Chief under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, was shared with journalists at a press conference by
Isaac Arul Selva who is a part of the Forum against EWS Land Grab.
The map
accompanying the BBMP official’s reply shows that the additional stretch of
land, which is yet to be handed over to the builder, includes the pourakarmika
quarters and the Koramangala Primary Health Centre (PHC) situated close to the
demolished shantytown. “It is shocking that this matter has not been made
public by the BBMP,” said Mr. Selva, who filed the RTI query.
Residents
shocked
While the PHC
staff was aware of the possibility of the health facility being demolished,
those living in the pourakarmika quarters were shocked to see the media outside
their homes. Refusing to accept that their homes too would go, Venkatesh (52),
a BBMP worker who has been living here since 1996, said: “We have been
relocated after our homes in Marenahalli, J.P. Nagar, collapsed. We have all
the documents. We will not allow anybody to come close to our homes.”
A link worker
at the PHC said: “It will be a big loss to the residents of these areas. A
large number of residents from Ambedkarnagar, L.R. Nagar, Rajendranagar and
Shastrinagar [use this facility].”
The PHC was
also a centre where tuberculosis patients came to get Directly Observed
Treatment Short (DOTS) course for treatment. “We get a minimum 30 patients
daily,” she said.
Meanwhile, a
group of Congress workers, led by Vannarpet councillor Vijayan S., turned up to
say there was “no truth to the demolition claims”. “This information is
revealed on the eve of the polling day to damage our party’s prospects. We will
not allow any further demolitions to take place.”
‘No
decision yet’
When asked, a
senior BBMP official told The Hindu the decision on giving Maverick more land
was yet to be taken. “We need to negotiate with the residents.”
The BBMP has
entered into a joint development agreement with Maverick to construct
multistorey residential complexes for the original 1,512 EWS allottees on seven
acres and exploit the remaining to construct a mall.
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