Army takes dhobis to the cleaners

Army takes dhobis to the cleaners
133-Year-Old Settlement Demolished
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: It was a bolt from the blue for 34-year-old Nagamani, resident of a dhobi ghat on Dickenson Road, on Monday.
At 5 am, two army platoons forcibly evicted Nagamani and 124 other people from the 3-acre and 4-gunta ghat from defence land. The one-hour ‘operation’ has left 25 families without homes now.
Lt Col Hardeep Singh of Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, who oversaw the operations, said residents ignored repeated notices to vacate the land. “Eviction notices under the provision of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, were issued to the unauthorised occupants. They, however, staked their claim over defence property. After examining documents and hearing both parties, the court of the Estate Officer passed an order to declare them as unauthorised occupants and directed them to vacate within 30 days on September 5, 2007,’’ said Lt Col Singh. Now, the residents are left in the lurch.
“I’ve been living here since my childhood and my parents have been here since the ‘50s. They wanted us to vacate, but how can we leave the place where we have been living for the past 60 to 70 years,’’ said Lavanya, who stays at the ghat with husband. The couple has been washing laundry for years.
“The services of these dhobhis have become redundant as army units have their own establishments. This land has been earmarked for the NCC Directorate, Karnataka, to construct its headquarters and allied facilities,’’ Lt Col Singh added.
HISTORY
The land was used as a dhobi ghat to take care of British troops’ laundry since 1874, and subsequently, for Indian troops after Independence. later, one Gopal was permitted to carry out laundry service for the Indian Army.
The dhobis were allowed to reside in military barracks on the same land. Over years, many dhobhis relocated, but Gopal continued to live at the ghat. But not anymore.