Bengaluru: Absolutely no graveyard to the presence of 36 burial sites. Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which dismissed social-media posts which claimed sites in Shivaram Karanth Layout had been carved from graveyards, Wednesday admitted it has found 36 illegal graveyards within the layout.The U-turn by the urban planning authority follows a meeting of top officers,who reviewed land documents of Karanth Layout. It’s now planning to convert these residential sites into public parks, fearing public outcry.The admission came hours after TOI published a report, ‘Sites carved from graveyard? No, says BDA’ on an X post by netizen Sunil Reddy, who posted photographs of sites dotted by tombs in Sector 1 of Shivram Karanth Layout. He had asked in his post: “For whom are these sites being allocated in a crematorium?” The post went viral with many netizens asking if those sites were pre-booked by spirits. When contacted by TOI, BDA honchos had maintained: “Nobody can acquire a graveyard.“BDA commissioner P Manivannan had promised a groundcheck on Wednesday. Accordingly, a meeting of officials found the layout had illegal graveyards spread across several villages. According to BDA records, the graveyards were located on privately owned farmland where families had burial sites. While compensation was paid during acquisition, officials now face uncomfortable questions about how such land was converted into sites in the first place.During internal discussions, some officials suggested clearing the areas and proceeding with residential development, but others reportedly flagged the idea as problematic. “A few family members have approached us seeking return of the land or adjustment in compensation. We are willing to return it,” Manivannan said, adding only a limited number of claimants have come forward so far.In a shift aimed at avoiding further backlash, BDA is now considering converting the identified graveyard parcels into public parks instead of residential plots. The commissioner has instructed officials to formally notify these lands and explore their redesignation.The move has found support among prospective buyers. “Samadhi land is not meant for living purposes,” said Sandesh Shasthri, who had intended to buy a site in the layout. “Selling such plots would have caused long-term distress for residents.” Those tracking developments have thanked Sunil Reddy for his X post.BDA engineers could have averted the whole controversy by fencing off the graveyards in the layout so that they stood apart from the rest of the layout, officials said.Box:Shivaram Karanth Layout: Villages and Number of Graveyards IdentifiedRamagondanahalli 7Kempanahalli 1Avalahalli 1Veerasagara 2Doddabettahalli 6Vaderahalli 1Byalakere 2Kalathammanahalli 2Ganigarahalli 4Guniagarahara 2Lakshmipura 2Somashettihalli 6
