Who shrunk Beggars’ Colony in Bangalore?

Land seems to be up for grabs at Beggars’ Colony and the authorities are helpless. The land belonging to a colony which is seeing the death toll among its inmates going up to 29 on Tuesday, has been encroached upon, shrinking the colony to almost half its original size.

The land has been encroached upon over the years, but only now the colony authorities have taken notice. And it is no small encroachment. The then Mysore Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar had allotted 311 acres of land for setting up the Nirashritara Parihara Kendra (NPK) (or Destitute Rehabilitation Centre which later came to be called Beggars’ Colony) through a government order, “law secretariat number P:4339, dated December 9, 1944”. But today, only 159 acres is available for the centre – almost half its original size – which is under the social welfare department.

A social activist, Doddaiah, who has been combating the land grabbers since 2004, said there appears to be no end to these unscrupulous elements who engage in shamelessly encroaching upon the land that is meant for a noble cause.

“There are those who were allotted land belonging to the Beggars' Colony illegally by officials holding high posts in the government,” he said.

“We do not know what action the governments in the past and present have taken in this regard. But we do know that land has been grabbed in the past and still there are illegal allotments on which even a petrol bunk has come up,” Doddaiah said. The land, under Sajjepalya and Srigandhakaval villages, was reserved only for the destitute, but officials have allegedly played mischief while continuing to allot lands to others on lease.

But even after the lease period expired the tenants never bothered to vacate. Instead, they further developed it for their own selfish purposes, Doddaiah alleged presenting documentary evidence.

About 20 acres of land has gone to private parties on lease, and commercial complexes and a petrol bunk have come up on this land.

Most of this land was illegally allotted to relatives of some top officials of the social welfare department.

Surprisingly, the state government itself has exploited the land for various services, despite the original size of the land being reserved exclusively for rehabilitating the destitute.

On December 26, 1977, the state government ordered that 63 acres of the land and two guntas be allotted for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients for a 30-year lease. While this could be seen as another noble cause, its lease period has expired in 2007, but the state government has not returned it to the Beggars’ Colony.

On February 15, 1986, four acres of land and 18 guntas were allotted to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to build water storage tanks for a 99-year lease.

In another government order, 55 acres of land was allotted to National Yunani Medical Institute in January, 1989, while another 8.13 acres was acquired for constructing the outer ring road in 1996.

The social welfare department officials have confirmed that Beggars’ Colony presently has only 159 acres of land, but they declined to comment on the land grab issue.