BENGALURU: Taking objection to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd’s (BMRCL) plan to acquire 3,797.271 sqmt of land on the premises of the All Saints Church, the All Saints Church Welfare Association on Thursday urged the corporation to shift the proposed Vellara Junction station to save the church and protect their fundamental right to pray.
Members of the All Saints Church Welfare Association, environmentalists, activists and like-minded citizens met the media in connection with the issue on Thursday.“BMRCL has chosen to use the sacred grove and all the remaining open space around the church to dump its tunnelling equipment and construction debris,” the association said in a press statement. BMRCL has decided to acquire the 150-year-old heritage property for its upcoming Gottigere-Nagawara Phase-2 line. The church premises is also home to an old-age home and a school for the differently-abled.
The controversy is riddled with complications with the Defence Ministry recently stepping into the fore, claiming that the land in fact belongs to them and not the Church of South India (CSI).
“The defence estates organisation, mandated by the Ministry of Defence, pointed out to us that there is a title issue. As per their records, the land belongs to them and CSI, which has already given off a portion of the land, cannot do so. They also cannot give away the land on which the church is built as they are tenants,” said a member of the congregation.
“By merely speaking to the Defence and shifting the location chosen for the underground station by 75 m, the entire matter can be resolved. The land adjacent to the church is empty and the station can come up there. This will save 100s of trees which are home to rare bird species,” the member said. Leo Saldanha of Environment Support Group said, “The entire process of initiating land acquisition was vitiated and void ab initio (not legally binding).”
BONE OF CONTENTION
BMRCL authorities had proposed to temporarily acquire 3,797.271 sqmt of land on the church premises for construction of an underground station on the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase 2. The church authorities and activists fear that 186 trees on the premises, some as old as 150 years, will face the axe along with the destruction of an old age home and school for the differently-abled. They have been protesting against the land acquisition.