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Uncertainty haunts BHEL employees in Bangalore

Around 450 employees of the BHEL are in a bind as they are not sure if they can live in the houses built at sites allotted to them by BHEL RHBCS.

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Around 450 employees of the Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) are in a bind as they are not sure if they can live in the houses built at sites allotted to them by BHEL House Building Cooperative Society (RHBCS) near Pattanagere in 1992.

RHBCS formed the layout after acquiring 58 acres and 37 guntas of land from farmers in Pattanagere and nearby areas. The society paid compensation to the farmers when it acquired the land. However, the high court passed an order quashing the land acquisition process. Later, the Supreme Court also directed RHBCS to hand over the land to farmers but RHBCS members filed a writ petition and got permission from the apex court to appeal to the HC again. In its judgment, the HC asked not to evict the residents from the layout.

The BBMP allowed BHEL employees to build houses at the layout and has been collecting property tax from them for many years. The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) provided electricity to all houses. “Farmers did not create any problem till a few years ago. They even encouraged us to construct houses at the layout. But the entry of realtors made it worse for us,’’ said MS Balaraju, president, BHEL Layout Residents Welfare Association.

Recently, the BBMP cancelled the katha certificates that it had issued earlier, putting the residents, who spent their lifetime savings to build houses, in a tight spot. Muddu Mohan, joint commissioner with BBMP’s Raja Rajeswarinagar division, in a report dated August 17, 2007, stated that there were 715 sites and 341 houses in the layout and that the residents had been staying in those houses for more than 10 years. Mohan also stated that the layout was not qualified to be considered as agricultural land. “The residents are facing a lot of problems from the land mafia,’’ said Sidda Hanumappa, a resident.

RHBCS allotted 30x40 sq ft sites for Rs32,000 each and 60x40 sq ft sites for Rs64,000 each to its members in 1992. Now, a 30x40 sq ft site commands more than Rs30 lakh. Encouraged by this steep rise in realty prices, the land mafia has lured a few farmers, who had already received compensation when RHBCS acquired the land, to sell their land to them. “We are planning to submit a memorandum to the chief secretary, requesting him to help us,’’ said Balaraju.

Surprisingly, Vimala Gowda, deputy chairperson, Legislative Council, wrote a letter on October 4, 2011, advising the BBMP commissioner to cancel the katha certificates issued by the BBMP. Vimala claimed that one Mirle Varadaraju of Kengeri Satellite Town had submitted an application to her demanding the cancellation of kathas issued to the residents by RHBCS. “It is disgusting to know the deputy chairperson is supporting a land developer instead of hundreds of BHEL employees who bought sites with their hard-earned money. I am not able to understand the connection between Vimala and Varadaraju,’’ said a resident on condition of anonymity.

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