BBMP demolition drive: When faith and dreams came crashing down
The ongoing demolition of lake encroachments in Bengaluru raises the inevitable question.
The ongoing demolition of lake encroachments in Bengaluru raises the inevitable question: Who should bear the blame for hapless citizens going through the agony of seeing their dream houses coming down like ninepins? Were these citizens conned or did they merely trust a system where ‘A’ khatas carry no weight? It is hard to believe that the authorities failed to notice the glaring fact that that the houses were being built on rajakaluves when the plans were brought to them for approval. Did those authorised to give the nod for building plans turn a blind eye just because their palms were greased all the way? The demolitions may in future save the city from a Chennai like flood but they have also exposed the sad truth that realtors and greedy bureaucrats have destroyed the faith of the common man in the civic administration.
It was another shocking day for property owners as surveyors continued to make marking on the walls of their homes, before letting the bulldozers do their work. The third day of the BBMP’s eviction drive saw houses encroaching on drains continue to bite the dust in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli zones.
There was chaos in Kasavanahalli when revenue staff increased the width of the properties to be demolished. Frayed tempers and arugments followed with people accusing the BBMP was being partial to the powerful and influential and targeting the poor.
Some of those who lost their homes, like Pradeep Rao of Avani Sringerinagar wanted to know why the agency was bringing down which had ‘A’ khata certificates establishing bonafide ownership.
“What is the sanctity of this khata now? Why did the BBMP approve the building plan and why were we supplied electricity and water? Why is the BBMP collecting property tax if our houses are illegally built?” he demanded, adding “How is the common man to know that he is being cheated? Punish the officials who allowed the unauthorised construction.”
Read: Put kaluves on GIS maps online, let everyone see where they are: V Ravichandar
Pointing out that no construction can come up without the knowledge of officials and engineers, he said the BBMP and state government must compensate the owners for the losses suffered and recover the amount from the guilty builders and officials. “It’s hard for us to fight the might of the BBMP and the government,” he added despairingly.
At Avani Sringerinagar near Arakere, some of the residents stopped BBMP bulldozers and hired professional building trimmers to remove the portions marked as encroachment, spending at least '30,000 from their own pockets in the process.
One angry resident, Ms Kasturi, claimed the BBMP’s earthmovers were weakening the foundations and pillars of homes in the area while doing a slip shod eviction drive. “Now stability cannot be vouched for . Professional cutters can do a much better job,” she argued.
Bengaluru? No, it’s Syria!
“We are not sure if we are in India or Syria. My house resembles one reduced to a rubble in an air-strike. The only difference is this is state sponsored terror and my family has been singled out to set an example for others,” complained an angry Mr Mahendra R, a software engineer, pointing to his half demolished house that he built at a cost of Rs 3 crore using up all his savings. The sprawling bungalow was his dream home, and he had never imagined suffering the kind of nightmare that he has.
“I was abused as if I was a criminal. While I was pleading with the officials to stop demolishing my house, they advised me to go away for some lunch and rest to an air-conditioned room and return in the evening to see what was left of it,” he recounted angrily
“It was like a raid on criminals. We did not know what to do. They did not give me time to even salvage some of the provisions from the kitchen, and asked me to get out before beginning to knock it down,” complained his wife, Rupa.
Mr Mahendra , who took two loans amounting to Rs 1.8 crore from nationalised banks and used the money to buy the land and construct the house., said he built it four years ago and was even issued an ‘A’ khata for it.
“When we bought this property we were assured there were only secondary or may be tertiary drains running through the area and so BBMP officials gave us the nod for construction. But now they are looking at an 108-year-old map to tell me that the drain going through my site is the primary drain (raja kaluve),” he despaired, wondering how the same government could have given him all the required signatures and seals on documents certifying his property as legitimate.
‘A’ khata’s hold no weight?
The ‘A’ khata scam has cost the people of Bommanahalli and Mahadevapura zone. Many with the certificate that is supposed to be the ultimate to prove legitimate ownership, saw their homes being demolished for encroaching on a Storm Water Drain (SWD).
Shockingly, ‘A’ khatas have been issued for houses built on revenue land, drains and government properties allegedly owing to the unholy nexus between builders and officials.
The scam is said to have peaked when the areas were still under the seven City Municipal Councils and one Town Municipal Council. Scores of apartments and revenue sites obtained ‘A’ khatas simply by bribing officials, leading to huge revenue loss to the government, according to official sources.
Under normal circumstances the ‘A’ khata is supposed to be issued only to properties that have paid a betterment fee to civic authorities like the BBMP, BDA, a City Municipal Corporation or a Town Municipal Corporation.
The building plan and building licence are also not approved unless the owner has an ‘A’ khata. But revenue officials of the CMCs and TMCs allegedly threw all rules to the wind when issuing these all important certificates. Smelling a scam, the then Lokayukta Venkatachala had even raided the CMC and TMC offices to seize truckloads of documents pertaining to the betterment fee.
Penthouses, palatial bungalows bulldozed by authorities
It was not just small houses that bit the dust during the demolition drive carried out by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike between Saturday and Monday. Even palatial bungalows costing Rs 3 crore to Rs 30 crore were bulldozed at Shubh Enclave on Haralur Main Road off Sarjapur Road.
“I lost my two bedrooms, including the master bedroom, a spacious dining room and my kitchen to the demolition. I have lost almost 50% of my house that was worth '3 crore,” said Mr Mahendra R., a software engineer who used his savings to build the house and also quit his job to build a startup.
“I was not even allowed time to move provisions from the kitchen to another room. It was as if the authorities were raiding some criminals. My husband is soft-spoken and the authorities took advantage of it,” said Ms Rupa, Mahendra’s wife.
The authorities also demolished nearly 25 per cent of another house, which was worth nearly Rs 40 crore built on the 12th Main in Shubh Enclave by an influential businessman, who is also the brother of an Andhra Pradesh-based politician, sources told this newspaper.
An independent house sitting in the centre of the storm water drain alignment will be demolished nearly 90 percent. An under-construction apartment complex, which also has major violations, would be razed completely. Each of these four buildings in the posh Shubh Enclave are worth crores of rupees, an owner said.
On Monday, BBMP engineers earmarked additional 2.4 metres for demolition and brought down 5 metres of encroachment. An enraged property owner, who will lose 8-feet of his compound wall and land, was seen quarrelling with the officials. He questioned whether it was a ploy to protect the properties of some influential people down the demolition route.