‘Left to sleep beside the tracks’: Eviction drive for Bengaluru’s suburban rail project leaves families homeless

Synopsis: Around 150, largely Dalit families in north-west Bengaluru have been left homeless after their houses were demolished to make way for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, with residents alleging that officials forcibly evicted them without prior notice. Many say they were misled into signing consent forms and received no clear communication from the authorities, despite having lived in the area for decades with documents sanctioned by the erstwhile BBMP.

Near the Kadugondanahalli railway gate in north-west Bengaluru, several men, women, and children lie beside the railway tracks. They appear unfazed by the frequent rumble of trains passing close by.

Until the morning of Friday, 31 October, they had been living in houses adjoining the area for decades, before bulldozers razed