BENGALURU: Shaken by the suicide attempt of a woman on its premises, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on Tuesday evening handed over a cheque of B25 lakh to S Mangala’s son C Karthik.
Also, B25 lakh each will be paid on Friday to 72 persons whose properties near Kanteerava Studio were acquired by BDA for road projects in 2013, provided their documents are in place, said BDA chief Rajkumar Khatri.
On the total compensation of B131 crore promised to the land losers, BDA said it will be decided after a meeting with Bengaluru development minister KJ George on Wednesday.
A top BDA official said the compensation was likely to be paid in instalments. Meanwhile, Mangala (50), who consumed poison on Monday, remains on ventilator in Bowring Hospital and doctors said she has respiratory problems. Earlier in the day, MLA Gopalaiah sat on dharna at the BDA office.
Accompanied by relatives, homemaker Lakshmi Devi, pleads for justice and compensation for her father outside the BDA office at Guttahalli.
G Subramani, who owned a property which he had rented to commercial outlets near Sri Kanteerava Studios in Nandini Layout was among those desperately waiting for compensation for the land acquired from them.
The family had to give 1,300 sqft of their land, which is now worth over Rs 1 crore, to BDA for the construction of an underpass that will link Nandini Layout and Peenya Main Road.
Subramani suffered a brain stroke on October 3, which paralysed his left hand and leg and is now in the ICU at Santosh Hospital, Frazer Town.
Devi said, “We had to make the tenants vacate three years ago after BDA wanted to take possession of the property. My 59-year-old father made countless visits to the BDA during the last three years, including last month, for the compensation to be paid.”
She said, “Apart from the mental and emotional toll of losing his property, the monthly rent and not knowing when the compensation would arrive, it was a physical strain for him to take a bus to the BDA office regularly.”
The daughter, a former lawyer, laments that Rs 10 lakh had already been spent since her father was admitted to the hospital. “His brain stroke is only because of what BDA had done to him. They need to take responsibility for our hospital expenses,” she said.
A total of 72 property owners need to be paid Rs 131 crore as compensation for land acquired by the BDA. Ex-corporator K Janardhan handed over 15,000 sqft to the BDA and has lost Rs 47,000 monthly rent for the last three years. “My land is worth Rs 6 crore today. I received a preliminary notification in 2013 and a final notification in 2014 for my land to be handed over,” he told Express.
Mohan, who runs a lorry service station, said, “I handed over 300 sqft of my land to BDA . I am awaiting the compensation.”