BENGALURU: While the issue of the Arkavathy Layout site allottees waiting for years to get alternate sites rages on, owners of 600 sites in one of the blocks cannot get anywhere near their sites. The reason: farmers whose lands were acquired for the layout refuse to allow anyone near the sites unless they are properly compensated.
This is the plight of the land owners in the 18th Block of the site in Byrathikhane off Hennur Main Road.
Speaking on behalf of a section of site owners, J Madhava Rao, vice president of the Arkavathy Allottees Association told The New Indian Express that owners were intimidated by a group of farmers who had handed over 17 acres of land for the formation of the block a decade ago.
“There are 600 people who have been allotted sites here. Since BDA is yet to form Arkavathy Layout, infrastructure such as roads, drinking water and electricity is not there. However, the problem prevails only in our block of the 20 blocks. Allottees are not allowed to touch their property,” he said.
Rao added that a site owner who tried to sink a borewell, was stopped by farmers. “He had just begun the work for a few feet when the farmers came, stopped the work and snatched the rig away. They do not even allow BDA officials to visit the spot to survey and assess the land here,” he said.An allottee said they approached the local police for help but nothing could be done.
M Nagaraj, president of Arkavathy Allottees Forum, another larger group, said that 10 office bearers met the new BDA Chairman S R Vishwanath last week seeking justice for site losers. “Between 1,500-2,000 allottees have lost their sites due to redo (denotification) by the government and are awaiting alternative sites. The chairman has promised them sites by end of December or early January,” Nagaraj said.
BDA is open to offering the land losing farmers 40% of developed land in exchange for whatever sites are acquired from them, said an official. However, a large section of farmers are not happy with the compensation deal.
The BDA had acquired 1,806 acres for the layout 16 years ago of which 600 acres are stuck in litigation. The final notification on acquisition was issued in 2004, but later some land was denotified. One more final notification was issued in 2014.