Slum razed to ground, layout to follow suit

Over 200 shacks of Shri Ranga Nagara and Veerabhadra Nagara slums near Rajarajeshwarinagar were demolished on Tuesday to make way for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) being built by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE).

The demolition sparked off a confrontation between the displaced and NICE authorities. Police lathi-charged the protesting slum-dwellers who threw stones on them and arrested 30 people including 12 women. 

The entire area is volatile as the authorities are planning to demolish Bage Gowda Layout, an entire residential locality in the neighbourhood, on Wednesday. The  demolitions are the first step in acquiring the land for Byatarayanapura stretch of the NICE expressway.

But locals put up a stiff resistance on Tuesday.

They blocked the road in the area for about an hour.  “NICE has assured us of alternative sites,” said Rashmi D’Souza, general secretary of the Residents’ Welfare Association of Rajarajeshwarinagar.

She claimed that former deputy mayor Lakshminarayana had spoken to NICE MD Ashok Kheny, who had promised alternative sites for the displaced.

Bage Gowda Layout Residents claimed that there were more than 90 families residing in the layout.

Rashmi D’ Souza told DNA that though residents of Bage Gowda Layout had clear title-deeds for their lands, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) did not give them adequate compensation. 

Shivalingaiah, a resident, alleged NICE officials threatened people and registered false complaints against them in Nagarabhavi police station. 

The authorities had tried to evacuate the slums in February last. But stiff resistance from residents foiled the  operation.