Even though the Karnataka High Court gave much-needed relief to the residents of the Jatti Dwarakamai Layout in Bengaluru’s Whitefield (situated off ECC Road), the civic agencies are yet to act on the orders to take control of the layout.
In 2007, the layout was developed and residents had started living there. However, till date, the developer — Jatti Engineering — had been preventing the owners of houses and residents from using the common areas of the layout, such as parks, walking paths and rounds. While these amenities should be considered as common property, the builder is charging huge amounts as maintenance charges from the owners of the houses.
Jatti Engineering is run by the descendants of former Indian Vice President BD Jatti. His son Danappa and daughter-in-law Lakshmi Jatti were one of the respondents in the HC case.
TNM had earlier reported how in September 2017, Danappa had allegedly flashed a gun at one of the residents over the dispute of common amenities in the layout.
Further, disregarding the due norms, the real estate company was not allowing the residents to form a society or association, further harassing them in many other ways, including criminal intimidation.
While in December 2019, the Karnataka High Court gave a favourable verdict by ordering Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to take over the entire layout and make it a public layout — with public thoroughfare accessible by March 2020 — no action has been taken by the civic body yet.
Over the years, they have been trying to engage with the builder and resolve the matter amicably but the builder refused to accept their demands. Forced by the apathy, the owners jointly approached the Karnataka High Court in 2019. In December 2019, they were successful in getting the favourable order.
Speaking to TNM, one of the residents who wished to remain anonymous, said their calls and meetings with the BBMP and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officials have so far been in vain. “We are now thinking of approaching the court again and filing a contempt case against the civic body,” the resident said.
Venkata Challapathi, the Mahadevapura Zonal Commissioner of BBMP, said that he will verify the High Court orders again and take necessary action in the coming days.