Ejipura

Ejipura is a small sized neighbourhood that is located in southeast Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is a compact neighbourhood that houses many areas of residence, schools, parks, provision stores and other recreational facilities. It is neighboured by other residential areas like Koramangala, Adugodi and Madiwala. The locality is known for its narrow roads and high slum population. It is also well known for the eviction of over 5,000 people who were a part of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of Ejipura, in order to build way for a shopping mall.
History
Ejipura is a direct extension of Vannarpet, that settled towards the East of Bangalore. Earlier, it was often known as Equestrian Grounds Puram, which later became E.G Puram. It was initially a colony that was situated next to the Equestrian Grounds that had been used by the army. The grounds were used by several workers who looked after the horses and their stables.
Community
Ejipura houses not only a strong rural population but also houses people from the North East and other Eastern cities like Bihar. It also consists of a large urban population, and several urban gated communities and apartments.
EWS Eviction
During the start of the year 2005, BBMP had passed a decision which provided housing and residence on the same piece of land for the people residing in Ejipura. In early 2006, the BBMP had then issued for a rights/identification certificate to the residents of the locality. However, a Public Private Partnership between the BBMP and Maveric Holdings had come into contract and was signed in order to develop the same piece of land that was given to the EWS.
As a section of the joint development agreement, it was said that half of the land was then to be used in order to construct 1,512 EWS apartments. The other half of it was to be used by Maverick Holdings Corporation in order to build a mall. The eviction of residents had been stalled several times, even after several rights groups had staged protests, alleging that the projects seemed like a land scam. The citizen groups and protestors had accused the BBMP of constructing just 1,512 houses and residences within a site that could host up to 3,000 houses, by choosing to split the land equally with a private builder.
Following directions of the Court order, the private builder, Maverick Holdings, alleges to have given a remuneration amount of Rs. 30,000 to families who had been evicted from the land. After this, an arrangement the government and Maverick had met half way and decided to build houses for the residents who took to the streets for shelter.
The project did commence only until recently. Due to the setbacks in starting the work, a group of original residents had filed a petition of contempt in the High Court, which questioned the delay in project commencement. Due to this, the court had requested that the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development Department (UDD) observe the happenings of the project and to submit a report to them. After having acquired the plan for the sanction to the EWS housing, the builders commenced the work in the year 2017.
History of EWS Eviction
In the year 1983, the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BMP) that was in power at the time had begun the establishment of EWS houses in the new locality of Ejipura, at the price of Rs. 223 crore, employing a HUDCO loan. The residential project was completed in 1991. During the years 1993 to 1994, these residences were given to the EWS families, who had to previously apply in order to get the houses sanctioned. Exactly 1,512 houses had been constructed in within 42 blocks (36 houses in each block) within a 10.30 acre land.
In the year 1992, there was the construction of the Ejipura Quarters which was built for policemen to reside in. It was rejected by the police men because the standard of construction was defective and subpar. The civic agency had then assigned this facility to the EWS that were present in Ejipura. Some residents chose to stay while the others had rented it out. The buildings had then been discovered to accommodate several people that lived among the poor living conditions. On account of the poor formation of the building, walls and ceilings began to crack and killed 3 people in 2003. All the blocks of the quarters were then deemed unsafe for residence. Ever since these events took place, several people have been living by the side of the demolished residence in tin sheds.
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