The Times of India                        14.03.2013

Land dispute deprives 2,000 sites of water

BANGALORE: Buyers of sites in yet another BDA layout have landed in a soup. M Visvesvaraya Layout, near Nagarbhavi in western Bangalore, faces the threat of running dry as land ownership issues have halted a crucial water supply project. It was developed prior to the jinxed Arkavathy Layout.

The BWSSB had to lay the last 100 metres of pipeline to bring water to the layout when a dispute arose over the piece of land where the pipe had to be laid. The Jamnalal Bajaj Seva Trust claimed ownership of the land where a connecting road towards the layout has come up, leaving a cloud over the project. With the only approach road to the layout passing through the land claimed by the trust, chances of the residential enclave going without water are very real.

The impact will be felt by 2,000 houses which have already sprung up in the layout, which has a provision for 17,000 sites.

DS Gowda, spokesperson, Sir M Visvesvaraya Layout Site Allottees and Residents' Association, told TOI they were shocked when work on the water supply project was halted just when it was about to be completed. "We've been waiting for Cauvery water supply since 2010. Now, there's a land dispute and we're losing hope of getting water. Sadly, all borewells in our layout have dried up and we're dependent on tanker water."

A BWSSB engineer working on the project confirmed that work has stopped temporarily. "Our job is to provide the water pipeline network. We've laid the pipeline from Anjana Nagar, near Magadi, for 8 km; just the 100-metre stretch is pending. A private trust stopped our work and we had no choice. The land dispute has to be sorted out by the BDA. We've already written umpteen letters to it to speed up the work," he told TOI.

A jurisdictional BDA engineer who inspected the layout on Wednesday admitted there was a serious problem. "We asked the trust spokesperson to prove his claim to higher authorities. We need that portion of land to complete the pipeline. We'll issue the trust TDR certificates if its claims are true," said the engineer.

Our land, says trust

Ramesh Sharma, CEO, Jamnalal Bajaj Seva Trust, said it was a clear case of encroachment of property belonging to the trust.

"There was a BDA proposal to acquire 61 acres of our land in 2003-04. But we never got a notification about it from the BDA. In 2007-08, the BBMP formed the road on our premises and said we would be issued TDR certificates. Our head office in Mumbai was not fully aware of what was happening here. Our officials in Bangalore were dominated by local politicians. The road was made. Now the BWSSB is laying a pipeline. How can they form a road on private land? We have opposed it and have spoken to BDA officials about it," Sharma said.