BENGALURU: The decades long delay by the revenue department in transferring the ownership of nearly 17 acres of its land to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has put the legal status of 222 sites allotted at HRBR Layout in jeopardy. A recent High Court verdict has set alarm bells ringing for the 150 families who have been residing here for nearly three decades.
The layout was formed by the BDA in 1984-1985 with 222 residential sites and four CA sites on 17 acres. After multiple attempts, the allottees got the sites and many are senior citizens now. TNIE caught up with the distraught residents who furnished documents to explain their position. The crux of the issue is that the layout was formed by the BDA on the dried up Channasandra Tank (total extent: 48 acres) in Banaswadi village.
“The Lakshman Rau Committee, in its report on Bengaluru lakes, had declared Channasandra as one of the disused lakes (cannot be revived). The state government accepted the report and notified it in the gazette on June 30, 1988, too,” explained Shyam Sundar, a house owner.
The revenue department is the owner of all lakes in the city and they never transferred the ownership of the area in Channasandra Tank (Survey No 211), in which the layout was formed, to the BDA.
Another owner, Vivek N, said the BDA had sent nine letters to the revenue department between 1993 and 2012 requesting transfer of ownership, but this has not yielded any fruit.
In January 2015, the residents got a shock when demolition notices were put up outside their houses.
“We approached the tahsildar court in KR Puram repeatedly and explained our position. The demolition did not happen. Shops built by a few private encroachers were demolished,” said Sunita Harish, another allottee.
Families of two individuals, Kunnappa and Kuttappa, have also staked ownership of 17 acres here. The High Court on December 1, 2022, gave a verdict in their favour. N Tamil Selvi, another allottee, said, “The families who went to the court are very poor. It is builders who are pushing them and trying to usurp the land.”
Sundar added, “We are not sure which 17 acres in this vast stretch the individuals are claiming ownership. There was indeed a lake here and how can commoners have ownership rights on a lake as it is government property. The apprehension is they might come and stake claim to the land where our houses stand.”
Retired DIG (Prisons) N Jayaramiah said, “A forensic lab report had rubbished the claims of the two families. The documents submitted by them were also proved to be false.”