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Journalism of Courage
After Mandalahalli clash, Deve Gowda asks Shivakumar to scrap township project
Ex-PM Deve Gowda also released a letter he had sent to the CM questioning the exemption from a social impact study granted to the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township project.
H D Deve Gowda said 82 per cent of those losing land for the project were small-time farmers (Photo: X/@H_D_Devegowda)
A day after violence erupted at Mandalahalli in Karnataka’s Bengaluru South district during a land acquisition survey for the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) project, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda urged Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday to withdraw the project.
Addressing a news conference, Gowda said on Tuesday that 82 per cent of the 10,580 people losing land for the project were small-time farmers. “Of these, 2,555 farmers have less than five guntas of land,” he said, arguing that thousands of families would face hardship if the project proceeded.
Gowda also released a letter he had sent Shivakumar in the last week of June questioning the exemption from a social impact study granted to the project.
“Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout developed by the Bangalore Development Authority are lying vacant as sites are not distributed to the public. Moreover, the project is not essential as the state government has decided to construct six layouts in a 6,217-acre area along the Bengaluru Business Corridor,” Gowda said.
“… if the government refuses my request, I will launch a satyagraha in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha,” the JD(S) veteran said.
Police inspector and survey official injured
On Monday, residents of Mandalahalli attacked officials of the Joint Measurement Committee who visited the village for a survey, allegedly injuring a police inspector and a survey official during a protest. The government later decided to withhold the survey.
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The Bidadi police registered two FIRs against villagers on Tuesday in connection with the violence. The complainants alleged that the villagers carried stones and brooms, abused and threatened officials, and prevented them from discharging their duties.
While one of the complainants is a police officer, the other is the driver of one of the vehicles the villagers attacked. The police officer’s complaint is against unknown farmers, but the second FIR names 10 villagers, along with unknown others.
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