Occupants of now demolished illegal sheds in encroached government land in Kogilu layout not shifting to temporary shelters, govt. tells Karnataka HC

Karnataka government informs HC that illegal shed occupants in Kogilu layout refuse temporary shelters after demolition of encroached land.

The State government on Thursday told the High Court of Karnataka that occupants of the now demolished illegal sheds on the encroached government land in Kogilu layout are not shifting to temporary shelters provided to them in four community halls and a few of them were coming to the shelters only to have food.

Those who had put up illegal constructions on encroached land are continuing to reside in the same land by putting up new temporary sheds, even though the authorities have made arrangements for around 240 persons in the community halls, the government said.

State Advocate-General K. Shashi Kiran Shetty gave this information to a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha, during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by Zaiba Tabassum, 28, Rehana, 25, and Areefa Begum, 49, who were among the persons evicted from the two colonies.

When counsel for the petitioners claimed that there are no proper facilities in the community halls, the A-G denied the claim while stating that the authorities would present a video footage of the status of community halls before the Bench. The A-G also turned down the plea by the petitioners’ advocate for supplying food at the site of the demolished structures.

Earlier, the A-G said that a large number of illegal temporary sheds mushroomed post May 2025 as satellite images disclose that 70 of them surfaced after then. There were no structures in this land in 2013 as it was a abandoned quarry pit on government land.

Pointing out that after the closure of quarrying activities, the pit was used as a landfill for municipal solid waste after it was handed over to the erstwhile Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike during 2014-16, Mr. Shetty said satellite images show that a few temporary structures were illegally put up on this landfill, which is not suitable for human living.