BENGALURU: In a surprise demolition drive at Avalahalli village near Yelahanka, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) took possession of 55 acres of land for formation of Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout.
A portion of the land acquired is of a stud farm in the village. “The action follows a preliminary notification to acquire land issued in 2008 and a final notification in 2018. Several notices have been issued to the owner of the stud farm. We are speeding up the land acquisition process for Dr Karanth Layout which needs 3,546 acres and 12 guntas,” a top official said.
Part of the three-km compound wall of the stud farm has been demolished. “The stables of horses, the paddock and the servants’ quarters have not been demolished. The farm has over 50 stallions. We will give the stud farm owner time to shift the stallions elsewhere,” the official said. The farm belongs to Marthanda Singh Mahendra.
Land acquisition officers, BDA engineers, task force personnel and Yelahanka police were part of the demolition drive which began at 7.30 am and ended at 10 am. This is BDA’s second biggest layout with 28,000 sites being developed at a cost of Rs 5,337 crore in 17 villages between Doddaballapur and Hessaraghatta under the supervision of Supreme Court-appointed Justice Chandrashekhar Committee.