On Wednesday, the BBMP’s demolition team and the revenue department carrying maps they wouldn’t show anyone, tied itself in knots over the exact buildings to be razed with the two agencies involved not able to agree on the specifics. The tangle may have been sorted out later but it also exposed the haphazard manner in which buildings are being brought down, leaving hapless women and even the kin of a martyred lieutenant colonel shattered and in tears.
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Vidyaranyapura Main Road passing through Bommasandra resembled a war-torn zone on Wednesday as over 70 buildings were razed, with the BBMP and revenue authorities continuing with their demolition drive for the fifth day to clear encroachments sitting on storm water drains.
Utter confusion prevailed as the authorities took up the demolition of properties that had not been marked on Tuesday by the BBMP. The revenue authorities, who reportedly have the highly-guarded and “accurate” map of the storm water drain alignment, ruled on Wednesday morning that the BBMP markings were wrong and set on a different course of demolition.
Five earth movers and tractors (jackers) swung into action reducing buildings to rubble. Over 100 properties, including commercial and residential structures on one side of the Vidyaranyapura Main Road, were marked to be demolished to reclaim 33 feet of the encroached drain stretching up to 300 metres.
Both markings of encroachments and the demolition happened in quick succession starting at 9.30 am Wednesday. The frustrated and angry residents and traders, who lost their properties, wondered if the BBMP was heading to a greater blunder.
Over 70 properties that were sitting on the raja kaluve, which connects the Bommasandra Lake once encroachments are cleared, were brought down like pack of cards even as the owners of the shops scrambled to save their merchandise and shift it to safer locations.
The residents confronted Yelahanka Joint Commissioner Sarfaraz Khan with questions on changed alignment. He tried hard to convince them that the revenue authorities had authentic information on the drain network and the demolitions happened as per their direction.
Shruti and Shreyas after their 90-yr-old ancestral property was pulled down by BBMP bulldozers (Pic: Shashidhar B.)
Nearly century old property razed to ground
Shopkeepers Shruti and Shreyas were having breakfast when they received the dreaded call Wednesday morning and rushed to salvage what they could from their store before the bulldozers went about their business. Only on Tuesday they had heaved a sigh of relief as their property was not marked for demolition , but on Wednesday it completely bit the dust. They were left shocked as the property was given to their grandfather by the British in 1925.
“How can there be a drain here now?” they asked. “We have lost 4,000 sq. feet of land, which was a major source of revenue for our family. How can the BBMP justify the changed alignment of the drain? Who is to be blamed and who will compensate for our loss?” demanded Mr Shreyas.
Shopkeepers hurry to clear stores
As the BBMP’s earthmovers swooped in to raze unauthorised constructions on a storm water drain (SWD) on Vidyaranyapura main road in Doddabommasandra, goods carrier vehicles were in demand on Wednesday with shopkeepers hurrying to salvage what they could and have it carted out of the way.
Several traders and their employees loaded goods onto mini-trucks that were parked before every shop. Some goods were brought down with the help of ropes from the upper floors and the loaded vehicles were sent either to the homes of the shopkeepers or godowns.
The bulldozers targeted fancy stores, stationery stores, readymade garments shops, jewellery and steel utensils shops, saloons, pharmacies, mobile stores, poultry and mutton outlets, bakeries eateries, and plywood shops among several others, leading to panic and chaos in the area.
“Forget about a notice, we were not given time to even shift our commodities to safety before they started demolishing,” protested some of the shopkeepers. A portion of an Anjaneya temple standing on the SWD has also been marked for removal. The authorities have given the temple a month to clear the encroachment.
Demolition
Some shopkeepers suffer huge loss
The demolitions left not just the property owners, but also their tenants, who had rented their shops, worried about the advances paid and the future of their business. One businessman, Jagadish, whose family had three shops in the area, said he had suffered a loss of at least Rs 10 lakh as the BBMP did not allow him to shift his commodities before the demolition began.
“Most of my stuff is trapped under the debris. Our loss is not comparable to the owners’ as we may not get back our deposits. We will have to take care of seven assistants who have come to us from Rajasthan even without business,” he rued.
Another trader, Kishan Lal said he could not imagine doing a business elsewhere as he had been in the area for 13 years. “I have suffered a loss of over Rs 10 lakh as the authorities did not give me time to shift my goods,” he lamented.
Widow loses 30 yr old home
“I don’t know if I can sleep anymore in the house I have lived in for 30 years. I don’t know how much of this house will be demolished,” said Padmavathi, feeding her year old grand-daughter on a footpath near her house even as the bulldozers attacked it.
She had sobbed begging the authorities not to demolish their house and had no more tears left. But the heartbreak was evident in her eyes as she avoided looking at the home she had lived in since 1974 come down.
“This was my mother’s house and she gave it to me. I have all documents to prove that this house is built legally. I have been paying property taxes, and my water and electricity bills,” said Padmavathi, a widow, who has been living in the area with her daughter.
“On Tuesday, the authorities marked properties near my house for demolition and today they are demolishing my house. I don’t know why,” she said despairingly.
Radha Shivaranjan, mother of late lieutenant Colonel E.K. Niranjan near the pillar of their home which will be demolished by the BBMP
Why 33-feet Drain, Why Not 10 or 20 Feet
Prakash moved to tears when the houses and shops he had built with his hard earned money, got pulled down within an hour by bulldozers. Prakash vented his anger on the administration. “I have constructed my three houses and two shops about 15 years ago, and I have been staying here for over 30 years in the area and there never has been a mention of a huge raja kaluve (as big as over 10 metres) passing through this area. We knew that there was a storm water drain going through the area, but why would the drain need 33-feet width space. I grew up in this area watching my predecessors, who were farmers, and there was not much water that could flow through this 33-feet width drain. Let them take 10 or 15 feet, why more than 33 feet and eat into our livelihoods,” he lamented.
Late officer’s home targeted as well
Even the house of late lieutenant colonel Niranjan, a member of the NSG's Bomb Disposal Squad, who was killed while defusing a grenade at the Pathankot air base during a combing operation in January this year, is not being spared in the demolition drive in Doddabommasandra. Around five meters of the building where a pillar stands supporting the late officer’s room, has been marked for demolition.
His brother, Shashank, was seen requesting BBMP engineers to allow the family to demolish the offending portion. “The officials have marked five meters , which will include a pillar supporting Niranjan’s room, for demolition. We are ready to do it ourselves if they give us time. I wish the authorities agree,” said Mr Shashank.
Although the house was built 15 years ago, some engineers arrived only some six months ago to inform the family that it was close to a raja kaluve, he explained. “We were not sure if our property had encroached on the drain,” he added. The family had to inform the late lt. colonel’s father, Shivarajan about the demolition on the phone as he was in their native village of Elumbulassery in Kerala where a ‘samadhi’ is being built to honour his memory.
