Athina Township Welfare Society  - News Archives

Attention : To those who wish to take immediate possession of land


Dear Friends,

The meeting of Athina Township Welfare Society on 5th March 2007 went on well. According to the information received from our Vice President, it is the right time to occupy the land and construct some permanent structures in the property and it is a must now. The main reason behind the success of our case so far was the few houses built in our layout. Few of our members came forward to start building houses. Those who are planning to build the houses may contact the Secretary or Mr. Gigi Thomas (Tel: 9893093) for further discussion. We are planning to call for a meeting of site owners who are ready to build the house immediately. On Friday 9th March at 7PM please be free for the meeting. The venue will be announced later in the web site. We will forward the minutes of the meeting in a day or two.
Regards,
Raju C. Ninan,
Secretary.
 

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Urgent Meeting on 5th March 2007 at 7PM in United Indian School  

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Action has been taken from Prime Minister's Office
We have received a copy of letter issued from  Prime Ministers' office to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of  Karnataka, Bangalore   to take appropriate action against the letter received  from Sri. M. K. Koshy (President ATWS) and others.

We are receiving positive response from Bangalore that serious actions are been taken from the Government officials against our petition. Our vice president Mr. George Varughese and our Attorney is working so hard to resolve the issues and the litigation is in progress. Please note that the society is working only for the "registered members"  who had send their required documents along with the litigation expenses.

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AN URGENET APPEAL TO ALL SITE OWNERS:-

The actions taken by the Society at various levels has started giving results. Chacko has submitted a letter to the Police in order to exonerate him from the recent encroachment case. In this letter he has declared that he did sell the lands to the NRIs many years ago and that he has no claim whatsoever over the lands and the site owners are free to enjoy them!

The Cityscape Properties, the main aggressor, is retreating. They are bullying the issue using the Daliths card. Aggressors have by now lost all other cards. It is a sensitive matter that is being handled tactfully.

Our civil case proceedings against Joseph Chacko and Cityscape continues.

Some site owners have apprehension whether to do any further investment at all prior to the civil case verdict. We wish to reiterate that we are given police protection for the simple reason that we are the rightful owners. The civil suit is filed to endorse our ownership title from future misadventures.

According to Karnataka land rules, vacant lands are at risk of government take over. However, lands owned and possessed by the holders are usually spared. Government has respected Society’s representations given at various levels, and we are given a mandate to reestablish the layout and to take possession expeditiously. We could convince the officials that we are in possession of the lands, thanks to some of the site owners who dared to build houses and compound walls without guarantees.

However, the police protection given to our layout cannot go indefinitely. Our immediate need is to reestablish the demarcation, infrastructures and utilities. It is estimated to cost around Rs 20 per sq.ft to meet the current needs.

All site owners are requested to understand the urgency of the matter and pay your dues to the Society's Bank A/c  being operated as a joint account in the name of Jacob Thomas (Vice President), Raju C. Ninan (Secretary) & James Luke (Treasurer). So any payments to be made by Cheque or Draft has to be drawn in any one of the above names.
Bank Account No. 30068682550
State Bank of India, Kacharakanahalli,
Kammanahally Main Road, Bangalore 560084, India

Please intimate your payment details to: athinatown@yahoo.com; phone: 91-9825-674564 and to Secretary / Treasurer: athinatownship2@yahoo.com for Society's account recording purpose.

It is desired to hold a meeting of the site owners on 8th & 9th at Bangalore. Site owners from Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, USA & Canada are requested to send representatives to assess the situation and take appropriate action plans.
 

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 Goondas have been thrown out from ATHINA

We have been informed by our Vice President Mr. George Varughese from Bangalore that as a result of CMO's firm intervention, the IG has send special order to send the police force to our layout. The police force have been deployed at ATHINA yesterday and 'goondas' have been thrown out from the layout. However, this is a temporary relief only. Therefore, we are asked to obtain immediate favorable court orders to enjoy continued govt. protection. We request all Athina plot owners to unite together to get our legal rights. Though the present police action is done for the whole layout,  the court will consider the case as an individual case for each plot owners separately. So we urge the members of ATWS who have not yet send their documents to send it immediately and those who have not yet joined the society to join the society without further delay. IT IS A MUST IF YOU WANT TO WIN YOUR CASE. We have a mail going today to Bangalore (from Kuwait) and if anyone wants to send their documents, may contact us before 1.00 pm. 

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An important message from  our Vice President

We have received today the following message from our Vice President, Mr. George Varghese ,Bangalore

It is critically urgent for all the site owners to join the Society and move forward with litigation as quickly as possible.  As we informed you earlier, the success of our suit depend on the strength of the Society to justify before the court that by and large we represent the investors community. And that can be proved only through the presentation of original documents. Therefore, please encourage all site owners to forward their documents as quickly as possible.

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A Report received from Bangalore

To All Members of Athina Township Welfare Society
Dear Friends

We suspected from the very beginning that  our ‘Vendor’ might be the mastermind of the present encroachment of our Athina Township. His connivance with Cityscape Properties has now come out openly. He keeps Cityscape in the forefront to resell all his projects, including Athina Township. We have got a copy of the new layout map for Athina Township drafted by them jointly!

Cityscape is notorious in the area for their cold blooded land grabbing operations in recent times. They are well connected at higher levels, so they had a free ride wherever they went about. They did grab hundreds of acres of land of absentee land lords.  

To free our land from the grip  of the encroachers is not an easy task. Having realized of their high connections, we went on knocking doors at the highest levels in the State. There were many ups and downs. And finally, firm intervention from the CM office and DGP office did help.

A unit of Reserve Police was deployed at our site from Thursday, 22^nd Feb onwards. 40 constables and 2 SIs are camping at Athina. In addition, the local police of Hoskotta Station is patrolling the area frequently. Police protection is given to reestablish the layout and to take possession as soon as possible. We are providing food and other supplies to the force. They are presently camped at the houses of Jacob Thomas and Johnson Canada. 

On the first day 100s of villagers as well as goondas gathered in that vicinity but passed without any incidents. I visited the site on the first day. About 20 SC/STs approached me with their grievances and that situation was handled diplomatically. Cityscape partners Mohan Kumar and Mahesh approached me for a settlement. They are desperately seeking an escape route. None of their high connections could help them so far in this case. 

Now they started playing the SC/ST card. Dalitha mahasabha, BSP, etc. have come forward to take up their case. It seems they sent petition to the DC. Today, the DC sent some revenue officials, village officer and Tahsildar to the site for investigation. In fact the whole day they were at the site and checking the Panchayath and Village office records. 

3 JCBs were employed on Thursday and Friday for leveling the layout. As you might have heard, what the mafias did during the past 2 months was that they put trenches across the layout after demolishing the entire infrastructures, even though they spared the 5 houses. It is now time to complete reestablishing the entire layout, along with the road cuts and other infrastructures. Today, 25 labors were doing the road works. We have put 3 securities on 24hrs duty. In addition, we have also employed “some supporters” in the area temporarily to watch over the situation. 

As I mentioned above, our immediate task is to complete reestablishing all the infrastructures, demarcation site and bring electricity connection to each site. It costs around Rs 20 per sq.ft to complete this task. And these things must be completed as the Police protection is in place. 

We have remarkable situation today. It is unheard in this City, the Govt came forward so strongly in support of the Sit owners. Govt has given us this privilege deliberately. Please remember that presently Govt. has banned forming private layouts in agricultural lands and we are given the privilege to form the layout and to establish the infrastructures under govt protection!! We must complete this on an emergency basis without fail. It would be disastrous if we still remain complacent.  

A few of you might have apprehension whether it is wise to invest any further. All of us know how the land value in Bangalore is getting appreciated day by day. Dodda Gubbi is about to become part of the Greater Bangalore Authority and the land value will escalate. I refrain from projecting figures, but definitely several times of your investment. However, Athina sites will not have any takers unless we establish infrastructures. Today, the layout is nothing more than a barren land. Therefore, we have no other option but to invest in infrastructures even if we want to dispose of them. 

We have a wrong notion that land rules in all states are same and if we have the sale deed in hand, property holding will remain unchallenged! In Bangalore City, vacant lands are at risk of take over by BDA. Therefore, site owners are advised to establish their possession of sites to avoid BDA take over. In brief, you must hold some documents like, approved house plan, electricity bill, etc. to prove your residence. It is expedient to consider disposing sites for those of you who have no interest in investing to avoid total loss. 

We have a very strong case against our losses, we shall move ahead with it until we are granted full justice. It was a laborious task to compile the various pertinent documents and evidences. You can imagine the work involved as the total no. of pages amounted to 1500!! Court relief is only be applied to those who have joined the litigation. We received some documents lately, which shall be put up shortly. Those who wish to join the litigation still, please do the needful as outlined in our website, as fast as possible to join the next batch.

Some of you might have noticed the name Achappa on your sale deeds. He is one of the original land lords from whom Chacko bought these lands. Achappa is given full charge of the operation to do all the needful actions on the ground. He is doing a tremendous job. Satish is a big help for me, putting a lot of time and effort for our cause. There are few people who have taken genuine interest in the matter and supporting us all along these days. We as a Society, is indebted to them as their contribution is invaluable. I am grateful to their guidance almost on daily basis. For confidentiality, I refrain stating their names who were part of this efforts very much! And I believe it is because of their concern and encouragement that we could sustain so far. By God’s grace, we are strengthened and successful in our endeavors, while we have a long way to go still.

George Varghese

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Court has adjourned the hearing to 30th March 2007

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