Royal gifts faces threat too

BANGALORE: The worst fears are coming true for property owners on 1st Main Road, Gayatri Devi Park extension in Malleswaram. BBMP's widening work along the first 1.2-km stretch between Bhashyam Circle and Sankey Park on 18th Cross will soon leave broken houses and bitter memories in its wake.
At least five families live in houses built on ancestral land gifted by the late Maharaja of Mysore Jayachamaraja Wodeyar in the early '60s and '70s to their families for loyal service at Bangalore and Mysore palaces.Worse, none have received any notice from the BBMP about widening work. Much of it has unfolded through sudden markings on walls and buildings.
"Where is the notice? Our houses will be taken up by BBMP for widening and we haven't even been informed about it. It's not just a house for us but a matter of pride that it's royal land gifted to our parents," said an angry Jayaram B G. His house, `Jaya Krupa' (named after the Maharaja), is the only living memory of his father late Govinda Rao who worked as a superintendent in the palace for 35 years. His shattered mother B G Padmavathy, 76, has no words on the widening work which will cut through the house and leave them with just portico space.
Their neighbour Amarnath V has started working from home over the past fortnight, trying to save the land gifted to his father late G K Venkateshaiah, a garden caretaker at Bangalore Palace. "We won't part with any portion of this priceless memory," he said.
The red markings on these houses were among the first to be left by BBMP. "We have stayed in small houses only because we couldn't afford anything more. We didn't even sell the land during crises, so why will we give it up for compensation now?'' asked Gopal V, another resident.
A few like senior citizen Prof. T B Muddana, a septuagenarian who purchased this land by paying a huge sum of money from the original owner, are in a fix. "I demolished the property to rebuild but have been unable to proceed. At this age, I cannot afford to suffer any more shocks," said the landowner who cherishes this land which once belonged to Krishnamurthy, a storekeeper at Mysore Palace in 1971. The 80-year-old well in the backyard, the only old structure that remains on this piece of land, will also be buried by road widening.