BBMP aborts demolition drive as locals furnish HC stay

BENGALURU: Not wanting another round of flooding in the tech corridor to dent the city's image, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Saturday embarked upon an encroachment clearance drive on stormwater drains (SWDs) in Munekollala (near Spice Garden) area of Marathahalli. But the drive had to be aborted even before it commenced. Reason: BBMP officials were ignorant of a court stay in the residential layout where they landed!
Left with no other option, the BBMP staff made a hasty retreat along with their machinery. "We should have cross-checked our records and come prepared," a Palike official was heard telling his colleague at the spot.
The action unfolded around 10.30am when scores of BBMP personnel along with policemen descended on Silver Springs Layout to identify and remove properties built on drains. The civic authorities, who faced flak on social media last week after the road near Spice Garden was clogged during rain, claimed to have received the green signal from the local tahsildar to undertake demolition. But before the earthmovers could get started, one of the property owners arrived with an advocate and furnished a stay order issued by the high court on September 20, 2022 with regard to survey number 34, where 22 buildings were marked for demolition.
Stumped, the BBMP officials did not know how to proceed. Advocate Ragavendra told STOI: "The records clearly show the presence of an official from BBMP during the hearing. I don't know how BBMP was not aware of the stay order."
'Tahsildar gave orders'
BBMP chief engineer (SWD) ML Lokesh said the officials had arrived on the basis of the tahsildar's orders. "We weren't aware of the stay order obtained by the residents nine months ago. There seems to be some miscommunication among us. We'll cross-check and return with legal orders," he said.
While the tahsildar did not arrive at the spot, sources maintained that he had been transferred on Friday. Meanwhile, BBMP officials said none of the residents had warned them about the stay order when they came to mark properties for demolition a while back.
However, a few property owners countered by saying they were not served any notice about demolition. "How can BBMP officials suddenly decide to come and start demolition? This is not acceptable and only creates panic among people," said Jagadish, a resident.
The BBMP's earthmovers returned after demolishing a few sheet houses and digging up a portion of the road.