BENGALURU: The demolition of shanties in Bellandur has put a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineer in a tight spot for “ordering” the demolition without authorisation.
A blame game played out between the police and the BBMP after over 20 shanties were demolished at Kariyammana Agrahara on Sunday.
The police had sent a team to the site after issuing a notice to the landowner to have the inhabitants evicted as they were - according to the police - “illegal migrants from Bangladesh”. Senior BBMP officials firmly denied they had authorised the demolition.
Mahadevpura Zone Special Commissioner Randeep D told The New Indian Express that they did not know that the BBMP issued the orders on Sunday. But a thorough inquiry on Monday revealed that BBMP Assistant Executive Engineer (Mahadevpura Zone) Narayan Swamy had given a written order to the Marathahalli police to bring down the shanties, he said.
“He had no authority to do so as it is not BBMP land. It is private land and taking the decision to bring down the sheds was not right,” Randeep said.
He added that Narayana Swamy, in his defence, said he issued the order after residents had complained to him multiple times claiming the people living in the shanties were a nuisance to them.
“He cannot pass any order unless it is our (BBMP) land. We have decided to take strict action against him. But we are conducting a further inquiry on the issue after which action will be taken against him,” Randeep said.
The unauthorised demolition has rendered over a hundred inhabitants homeless after their houses were destroyed. Many of them left the place for an alternative shelter, while some returned with some hope of their sheds -- their homes -- being rebuilt.
“My wife and I spent the night in a lodge nearby. We don’t have the money to pay for the lodge every day, so we returned to check if arrangements were made after they learnt that we are not Bangladeshi migrants. But our sheds are not rebuilt, so I returned to the lodge. I don’t know what to do next,” said Basveshwara, who hails from Gangavati, Koppal district.
A housemaid, Padma, another inhabitant, said, “My children and I spent the night on a footpath as we now have no place to live in. We will see what arrangements to make for today. I cannot leave my children alone on the roads and go to work.”
Lekha Adavi, an advocate-activist, said, “We have filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court to prevent further demolition of sheds. We are also collating data on the number of residents, their names and documents and the exact number of sheds demolished.” But for now, the near future appears bleak for the newly homeless.