Church-BMRCL battle ends

Continuous protests and negotiations by the congregation of All Saints Church to save its grove, heritage building and premises met with success

Sustained citizen activism has helped save parts of the heritage All Saints Church on Hosur Road.

The Namma Metro authorities, who had acquired the land, have also agreed to cut fewer trees.

A Metro station is coming up on land adjacent to the 152-year-old church. The Metro authorities will now take away only a tenth of what they had originally planned to take.

Concerns flagged

In August 2018, young members of the church saw red markings drawn on the compound wall. BMRCL had decided to take over 4,582 sq m of the land inside the church temporarily and pay a rent of around Rs 1 crore, the church learnt.

This would mean razing a part of a ‘sacred grove’, tearing down the school for special children, closing two entrances, and losing parking and sit-out areas. Plus, they would not be able to hold functions at the hall, income from which is used for the church’s expenditure, says Ebenezer Premkumar, a senior member of the congregation.

There was initial hesitation to challenge the project. But soon after,But soon after, the church members visited the land acquisition office. Forest officials in the BBMP were confronted. The church members went to Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata to understand how clearances are given for Metro projects. They tried to meet the then BMRCL MD, Ajay Seth, but in vain.

“We looked through the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and learnt the station was supposed to come up on the other side of the road. How could they shift the project without consultation, we confronted the BMRCL officials at another meeting,” Ebenezer recalls what kept them going.

Small wins

In April 2019, the BMRCL communicated to Karnataka Central Diocese their plans to spare 929 sq m. “This lifted our spirits and emboldened us. We decided to ask for more,” says Ebenezer.

By this time, Leo Saldanha of Environment Support Group (ESG) had facilitated a meeting between the church members and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

“We learnt the EIB was financing around 500 million euros for the project, so we contacted them. Two local teams from EIB visited the church but weren’t convinced of our demands,” shares Leo.

Parallelly, 10-15 members started holding protests inside the church every day and a peaceful march was held on Brigade Road.

Turning points

“There was a notification by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to acquire the land in July 2019. During a discussion with them, points about the value of living heritage and how the project was violating the DPR and how it was not conforming with financing agreements were presented,” says Leo.

The church members would sharpen and sustain their campaign around these points.

The church was built 152 years ago by multiple communities and is a symbol of syncretism. It is also home to rich biodiversity and some trees are over 150 years old, they argued.

The metro station wasn’t meant to come up inside the church, according to the DPR. Since BMRCL is an implementing agency and not a planning authority, it has no right to change the land use plan without following proper procedure. “We brought this issue to the EIB,” says Leo.

They appealed to the EIB to share the contract. “A heavily redacted version” was shared finally, remembers Leo.

A clause in EIB’s contract with the BMRCL and the Government of India stated that no land use violations would take place. It also said the metro would be built in accordance with the Bengaluru Draft Master Plan 2031, which designates the church as a living heritage.

They also cited a 2011 petition filed by ESG that said the metro routes are destroying open spaces in Bengaluru.

In a meeting with the MD of BMRCL in April 2019, Leo argued the church has already sacrificed 3,611 sq m of land outside its compound permanently, so why should it part with more? “We also questioned why the sacred grove, where baptisms, marriages and special events happen, should be taken away,” he says.

In 2020, they suggested the BMRCL to build a three-tier station instead of two, and move the station to Vellara Junction and develop it as a hangout hub for the young.

“We also asked why a station was coming up close to the Langford Road station when the DPR stated every station must be a kilometre apart,” Leo shares.

The BMRCL spared the special school but not its garden. “For autistic children, familiarity provides comfort. We explained that cutting away the garden could lead to serious mental health consequences,” Leo says.

2021 was a mixed bag. EIB made some concessions and citizen groups like Heritage Beku joined the fight. On the other hand, KIADB issued an emergency acquisition notice during the pandemic second wave. Meanwhile, Anjum Parvez took over as the new MD of BMRCL.

In September 2021, KIADB issued a notice reducing their acquisition proposal from 4,582 sq m to 883 sq m. Protests broke out.

In December 2021, the church members met Rakesh Singh, the additional chief secretary to the urban development department. Once again, they highlighted the church had already given 1.75 acres to BWSSB and 3,611 sq m to BMRCL, so why they were demanding more. Singh conveyed this to Parvez.

“That the church’s property had already been permanently acquired was not put forth by the BMRCL to its higher-ups,” Ebenezer realised.

Now: The MoU

Finally, on February 26, an MoU was signed that BMRCL would acquire 287 sq m of land temporarily in addition to the 166 sq m it had taken permanently. Seven trees would be cut instead of more than 100, it added.