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The Koramangala 'lake' saga
Written By murali772 - 5 November, 2009
Bangalore governance Corruption Koramangala Analysis
There is the huge tract of land of 37 acres on the left when you come down BDA complex in Koramangala, while heading towards Wipro park. Just last week the Chief Minister has denotified the entire land in favour of the erstwhile land lord, inspite of orders at the Supreme Court level against any such act. Alongwith the landsharks, the CM seems to have no qualms whatsoever about putting at peril the interests of the citizens.
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The following is the mail a prominent member of the Koramangala community sent on the subject on the community Yahoogroup (based on a note - appended further below - sent to a select few by a retired bureucrat and resident of Koramangala, who once held the position of Chairman of BDA):
Some of you might know of the continuing saga of the "lake" area in 3rd block (this is on the left as you come down from BDA complex - where there is a nursery of sorts). This case has been going on for over 5/6 years, up to Supreme court and back. Koramangla Initiative (through an advocate) has been funding a PIL, which we thought till now was going in the right direction. Our prayer, simple enough, was to keep it as open space/ park etc.
While the legal issue in this case is too long to elucidate in this mail, this is just a heads up, on the latest develeopment.
The government (not BDA) in at all its wisdom, has chosen to de-notify this area and give it back to original owner. This happened a few days ago. We know of 6.21 acres de-notified, but we believe that the total extent might run up to 32 odd acres.
This after the Supreme court and High court had already declared that this property belongs to the BDA (which means the citizens), and also an interim order from the High court, which states that this property is not to be alloted to anyone!
We are taking a review of startegy and will soon contest this de-notification order, but the script is getting increasingly complex. We will need, as it unfolds further, at least 2 initiatives, from the citizens of Koramangala:
a) A show of strength, in signatures, physical presences, to highlight this absolutley questionable action by the government.
b) Resources, to up the ante in the legal battle, possibly to bring in a team of senior advocates to assist our lawyer, and perhaps a Supreme court representation.
As said above, this is a quick heads up, and I will post the developments in next few days. I do hope Koramangalaites will support in strength.
The mail from the retired bureaucrat:
“I thought I should keep you in the loop about an earth shattering 'neighbourhood" development. There is the huge tract of land of 37 acres on the left when you come down BDA complex in Koramangala, while heading towards Wipro park. Against all odds we fought the erstwhile landlord in the High Court and twice in the Supreme Court during 200-04. The High Court Single Judge, Divison Bench and finally the Supreme Court all ruled in favour of the BDA and upheld the land acquisition. The Supreme Court judgement was delivered just as I was leaving for Mumbai. You will remember that I had wanted to convert the whole place into a park. Well it looks like that's as far as we got. Just last week the Chief Minister has denotified the entire land in favour of the erstwhile land lord. The Supreme has held that once land has been acquired for a public purpose it must be used solely for that public purpose. In case the original public purpose no longer exists it should be used for some other public purpose. In case no public purpose exists then the land should be auctioned and under no circumstances should it be returned to the original landlord. A brazen and patently illegal denotification. Nevertheless, I am trying to mobilise some well meaning people to directly approach the Supreme Court. This requires a lot of time, effort and patience as public outrage subsides as fast as it surfaces”
The response from the members of the community has been just overwhelming. The question simply is could such a thing have happened without the direct complicity of the CM himself? Alongwith the land-sharks, he seems to have no qualms whatsoever about putting at peril the interests of the citizens.
And, this is not an isolated case - we are before our very eyes seeing the disappearnce of even the few remaining lake-beds one by one on a daily basis - check this. How do we, the citizens, tell him where he gets off?
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
an oasis amidst Manhattanisation
murali772 - 12 September, 2015 - 10:57
This is what the kere looks like now. The water that has got collected so far is largely through direct precipitation.
The core committee has been moving the BBMP to channelise the rainwater flow from the road-side drains. The work is currently on, and once completed, the lake should fill up more.
Today, the citizens carried out a sapling planting exercise, along the walk-ways.
We are already beginning to see some bird life, and once the lake fills up more, and the saplings grow into trees, this Maestrikere could turn into a real oasis amidst the otherwise Manhattanised Koramangala
murali772 - 13 November, 2015 - 11:58
Even as the kere was beginning to take shape, there has appeared an "announcement on a notice board of a community hall (with a thank you to the former Bengaluru in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy), a skeletal structure of what looks could be a future temple and a few constructions on the sprawling site: this modusoperandi has LAND GRAB written all over it. All these have come up in a 3.2 acre lake bed", as per a report (accessible here) in the Bangalore Mirror.
The report further adds - When contacted, transport minister (in the new allocated portfolio) Ramalinga Reddy said he was not aware of the fact that his name was being used to build a concrete structure in the lake premises. "I have not given permission to put up anything there," he said; then he added, sounding as if he was justifying a time-tested usurping tactic: "Earlier some people used to come to the spot and perform poojas; maybe they have tried to build a temple out there because of sentimental and religious reasons."
On why there has been no response to the residents' proposal to revive the lake, Reddy said: "The lake development work by the BDA is underway. It will shortly be transferred to the BBMP and all measures will be taken to protect the lake area."
Ajay Reddy, convenor of the committee, said, "We have complained about the issue several times to the BDA Commissioner, the local MLA and other civic authorities. We only got assurances in return. If BDA had finished the project last year itself, they could have handed over the lake area to the BBMP, who would have provided security and fenced the area."
Well, well, it all seems to fit into the typical land grab pattern. Of course, the citizens are not going to be just sitting and watching the goings on, particularly after having gone all the way to the Supreme court to revive the lake.
Tragically, it's from the citizen's representatives and their cronies that kere's in the city seem to need all the protection.
amithpallavoor - 16 August, 2017 - 14:28
Now that Koramangala is under water, will the republic of Koramangala turn their attention towards this lake and give up on the needless flyover!
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