Demolitions and Evictions of Poor
The history of the demolition and eviction in Ejipura bears close parallels to that in Nonadanga, both being part of the neo-liberal attack on the lives and livelihoods of the urban working class. Both have their origins in the elite dream of “beautiful” and “developed” cities, the process of “beautification” and “development” involving the gradual pushing out of the working class to the peripheral areas, the same working class which provides the infrastructural services for running the cities but whose lives are an eyesore for the elite, and reconfiguration of the land they occupy into malls and genteel living spaces.
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{besps_c}0|ews1_arati_choksi.jpg|source: http://aratichokshi.blogspot.in/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|ews12_arati_choksi.jpg|source: http://aratichokshi.blogspot.in/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|ews21_arati_choksi.jpg|source: http://aratichokshi.blogspot.in/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|Jan 20_arati_choksi.jpg|source: http://aratichokshi.blogspot.in/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|23EJI PURA.jpg|source: http://aratichokshi.blogspot.in/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|23EJI PURA.jpg|Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130124/news-current-affairs/article/pipes-drains-new-home-ejipura-residents/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|27BG_E__W_S_QUARTE_1343484e.jpg|http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/ejipura-only-a-water-tank-and-shrine-remain/article4348684.ece/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|Jan19-2 143.jpg|Source: Mirno Pasquali/{/besps_c}
{besps_c}0|Jan19-2 143.jpg|Source: Mirno Pasquali/{/besps_c}
And at the centre of it lies land, the most valuable resource in the urban scenario, especially in high population density cities in India, and especially at a juncture in capitalism where real estate and services have proved to be a far more profitable mode of investment than any productive industry. - From Nonadanga to Ejipura: The Urban Battleground, Partho Sarathi Ray, January 30, 2013.
This is the same slum where CED had done a pilot study on the vulnerability of the urban marginalised communities. Today the whole slum is razed down and fully fenced.
The study is accessible here.
Some pictures of the once existed EWS Quarters.
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The EWS quarters, Ejipura, Bangalore consisted of about 1600 houses. The settlement is over 20 years old. It is so called because it was originally a complex of three storied concrete houses under the economically weaker section programme. Due to poor construction quality a few years later some of the buildings collapsed and later all the quarters were demolished. Since then the families were living in tin sheds. People have been issued identity cards, though they may not be the original allottees.
Since 17/1/2013, BBMP has demolished these tin sheds and forcefully evicted the residents.
Incidently the BBMP passed a resolution on to 'develop' the land on a PPP basis. It has entered into an agreement with Maverick Holdings(read Garuda Mall). Maverick Holdings builds 1640 houses utilising around 7.5 acres of the land; around 8 acres of the land will be utilised by Maverick Holdings for commercial purposes.
Media reports:
- Ejipura: only a water tank and shrine remain, The Hindu, 27 January 2013
- Pipes, drains new home for Ejipura residents, Chandrashekar G.,Deccan Chronicle, 24th Jan 2013
- HC refuses urgent hearing of petitions by Ejipura residents, The Hindu, 23 January, 2013
- BBMP eviction drive abdicates its constitutional obligations, Deepa Kurup, The Hindu, 22 January, 2013
- Amid razed homes, the cry is, ‘Where do we go?’, Chitra V. Ramani, The Hindu, 22 January, 2013
- Homeless families wait in rubble, Times of India, Jan 22, 2013
- Shantytown protests, demolition continues, Times of India, Jan 21, 2013
- Ejipura shantytown bulldozed, Times of India, Jan 20, 2013
These pictures & videos speak:
Vivek Muthuramalingam's Pictures:
http://we.tl/gJdJ4G3dAU (18th, 19th and 20th)
Mirno Pasquali's Pictures (19th and 20th, also has pictures over 2 weeks)
