Kogilu eviction: ‘90 of 167 families evicted found eligible for houses’

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Suresh said that government departments conducted surveys among those who were evicted. (File photo)

Ahead of the distribution of houses to those who were evicted for encroachment on government land near Kogilu Cross in Bengaluru, Karnataka Urban Development and Town Planning Minister Byrathi Suresh said that only 90 families were eligible for houses from the government.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Suresh said that government departments conducted surveys among those who were evicted to ascertain whether they were eligible for houses under the One Lakh Housing Scheme of the state government. “Whoever are local residents, (and) eligible, those 90 will be given houses,” he said.

The government had previously said that 167 sheds were cleared during the eviction carried out in an abandoned quarry site, allocated for solid waste management in the city. Satellite images captured by Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited, which had custody of the said land, revealed a surge in the number of habitations on the site post 2021.

The encroachment clearance triggered a political row with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan equating it to the prevalence of ‘bulldozer justice’ in Karnataka. Worried about the optics, due to the possible ramifications of the incident in Kerala polls scheduled for April, the Congress-led Karnataka government announced houses to eligible victims.

The Opposition BJP subsequently attacked the Congress government, accusing it of ‘minority appeasement’ and rewarding those who encroached on government land.

Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath, who heads a fact-finding committee formed by the BJP to submit a report on the incident, said that allotting houses to those who encroached on government land would set a bad precedent and the party would mount a legal challenge against the decision.

“For these people (evicted from Kogilu), the city corporation will bear Rs 5 lakh, the minority welfare department will pay Rs 2.5 lakh, and the beneficiaries have to pay Rs 2.5 lakh. If this is the case, then none of the beneficiaries of other houses under the Scheme will pay the full amount and only pay Rs 2.5 lakh,” he said.

All beneficiaries usually pay Rs 10.5 lakh per house under the One Lakh Housing Scheme.