Congress’ Indira Canteen Built On Disputed Land Despite A High Court Order, Gets Demolished 

An Indira Canteen which was built on disputed land has been demolished by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities, Deccan Herald has reported. The report claims that the demolition took place about 20 days back.

According to the report, the BBMP had built the canteen at SK Garden in Bengaluru’s Pulakeshinagar, on a disputed piece of land. The ownership of this land has been claimed by both BBMP and the Navodaya Gruha Nirmana Sahakara Sangha Niyamitha.

In 2011 the Karnataka High Court had ruled that status quo be maintained on the nature of the land. As per a report in The Hindu, a BBMP counsel had given an undertaking that there would be no construction on that piece of land.

The BBMP though appeared to have violated both the undertaking and the status quo to complete the construction. Besides the Indira Canteen, a water dispensation unit and photocopy centre was constructed on that land.

The construction of such canteens has also come under scrutiny after they were built on parks, lake buffer zones and even temple lands.

Indira Canteen which offers various meals at Rs 5, was considered one of the key welfare schemes of the erstwhile Siddaramaiah government. Congress president Rahul Gandhi inaugurated one such canteen and even had lunch there.