Contrary to claims made by displaced residents, the illegal layout in the Kogilu Bande Quarry area of Yelahanka hobli is not two to three decades old but has emerged only in the last six to seven years, according to official records and local inquiries.

Residents whose houses were demolished on government land have maintained that they had been living in the area for over 20 years. However, interactions with local residents of Tippu Nagar, revenue officials, school teachers, and scrutiny of official documents indicate that the illegal layout began taking shape only after 2018.

Out of the total 50 acres in Survey No. 99 of Kogilu area under Yelahanka hobli, about 35 acres were regularised by the state government, which distributed house ownership documents to nearly 1,000 poor families. The remaining land was handed over to the BBMP by the Revenue Department in 2016–17 for solid waste processing purposes. This land initially remained vacant.

Taking advantage of the vacant land, some residents from nearby Tippu Nagar allegedly encroached upon the BBMP property and constructed unauthorised sheds and houses. Over time, more than 200 families came to reside illegally in the quarry area, according to revenue officials and local sources.

Local leaders are said to have encouraged poor families to construct houses on the vacant land and facilitated the encroachment. Believing these assurances, families built sheds and houses and began living there. Basic civic amenities were later provided by the civic body, though no formal action was taken earlier to clear the encroachments. The demolition drive, which drew national attention, has prompted the state government to consider providing alternative housing to eligible beneficiaries on humanitarian grounds. However, identifying who among the displaced families qualifies for rehabilitation has emerged as a major challenge. Almost every family possesses documents such as ration cards, Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, and electricity bill receipts.

Five teams comprising officials from the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation and the Revenue Department are currently conducting a detailed survey. The teams are collecting information on the duration of residence, identity documents, temporary title deeds if any, family details, and GPS coordinates of the demolished houses or sheds.

Even 11 days after the demolition, the displaced residents have not vacated the site, fearing that leaving the area may affect their chances of getting alternative plots. Many have stopped going to work and continue to stay at the site, waiting for visiting officials and political leaders to hear their grievances. Families that once lived in the quarry area are now struggling in the open, recounting their plight to authorities.

Officials say a large number of those displaced had migrated from states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and had encroached upon the quarry land. Local residents form only a small fraction of the population. The area is also home to itinerant fakirs who perform qawwali, leading to the locality being referred to as ‘Fakir Layout’. Nearby areas house poor families from different communities.

While residents of Tippu Nagar were provided with legal house ownership documents and allotted homes accordingly, no such documents were ever issued by the Revenue Department to families residing in the quarry area. Many of the documents produced by the displaced residents have been found to be fake, said Yelahanka Tahsildar Shreyas.