CM Siddaramaiah defends Bengaluru eviction drive as legal move against encroachment

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday defended the eviction drive at Fakir Colony in Bengaluru, saying it was a necessary action against the illegal occupation of government land.

Siddaramaiah’s reaction comes as a response to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, who had condemned the alleged “bulldozer action” in Bengaluru.

Vijayan had on Friday strongly criticised the reported demolition of structures in minority residential areas in Karnataka’s capital, calling the action “shocking and painful”.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Siddaramaiah said that since 2019, people were living unauthorised on a five-acre plot designated for solid waste management.

“… There is no safety there. So officials served notice to the illegal occupants asking them to vacate. As they failed to vacate, they were evicted,” he said.

The Karnataka CM said he has asked the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner and the Secretary of the Urban Development Department to make alternative arrangements for those evicted “because most of them are migrants”.

“They have come here from other places, but from the human point of view, we have to make alternative arrangements and provide them a dwelling,” he added.

Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy advised Vijayan to look after his own state first.

“Let him look after his state, we will look after ours. However, I don’t know why those dwellings were evicted because I was not in the city. I will react after getting the details,” Reddy said.