Protest against land grab

BANGALORE: The Dalit and Minorities Land Protection Forum alleged that the economically weaker sections (EWS) quarters inhabited by poor people and other minorities in Viveknagar will be taken over by a private company which had signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BBMP.The forum has put forth several demands to the state government, including withdrawal of its decision to transfer land to the private company and building houses for minorities on the same land. The forum is planning to stage a protest in front of the BBMP office on April 7. Convener of the forum, Rajendran Prabhakar, in a press meet stated, “The fifteen-and-half acres of land was allotted to a private company to build 1,640 EWS quarters and intended to distribute them to people who lost their homes in a building collapse  a few years ago. “However, the company now plans to build houses on 50 per cent of the land and a complex on the remaining land, which is a clear case of land grab.” Several organisations namely Samatha Sainik Dal, Slum Janandolana Karnataka, PUCL K, Swabhimani Bahujanara Vedike, Bangalore Gudisala Nivasigala Okkota and an NGO SICHREM have joined hands to support the cause.