Bengaluru: In a significant development, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) on Tuesday decided to step back from acquiring select parcels of land in Kanchugaranahalli, Bidadi hobli, which were part of the Harohalli 5th Phase Industrial Area. This decision, prompted by a high court order, brings relief to villagers who had been fighting a prolonged legal battle to protect their homes, farmland, and ancestral burial sites.
Background of the Acquisition
The Harohalli 5th Phase Industrial Area, proposed in Bidadi hobli of Ramanagara taluk in Bengaluru South district, is part of the government's broader push to expand industrial infrastructure around the city. The project was initiated through a preliminary notification in November 2019, covering over 1,118 acres across villages including Kanchugaranahalli, Kanchugaranahalli Kaval, Mudenahalli, and Yarehalli. A final notification in July 2020 notified more than 679 acres for industrial development. However, for several landowners, the government's maps cut through their lived realities—homes where families have lived for generations and sacred burial sites where ancestors were laid to rest.
Legal Battle and High Court Intervention
What began as objections soon evolved into a legal battle. Villagers approached the high court, arguing that the acquisition overlooked the presence of houses, ancestral burial sites, and culturally significant spaces that could not be reduced to monetary compensation alone. In its order dated December 10, 2024, the court quashed the final acquisition notification for specific survey numbers, acknowledging the concerns raised by petitioners. This intervention became the turning point.
KIADB's Decision to Denotify
Acting on the court's directions, KIADB officials revisited the disputed land parcels, measuring over 2.2 acres in survey numbers 29/3 and 29/6 of Kanchugaranahalli near Bidadi. Exercising powers under the KIADB Act, they excluded these parcels from the acquisition process. The decision ensures that the affected families will retain ownership and continued access to their land, including residential structures and burial sites that villagers said were inseparable from their identity, memory, and history.
This rare moment of relief comes at a time when back-to-back land acquisition proposals across Bengaluru's fast-developing outskirts have left rural and agrarian communities on edge. The denotified lands, officials confirmed, included residential structures and burial sites that villagers held dear. The high court's intervention and KIADB's subsequent action underscore the importance of balancing industrial development with the rights and sentiments of local communities.
