Report on rehabilitation of Bhangi members

BANGALORE: The High Court on Monday sought a status report in connection with the rehabilitation of the Bhangi community members in Savanur in Haveri district and ending the practice of carrying night soil.The court had issued a notice on July 18 to three State Government officers, two City Municipal Council officers of Haveri and one officer of the Urban Development Department (UDD) for filing a false affidavit on the High Court order. They had submitted that the Bhangi community members had been rehabilitated. In the hearing of a petition filed by senior counsel and former advocate general R N Narasimha Murthy  seeking to end the practice of carrying night soil in the state, the State Urban Development Department had submitted that 296 families of the Bhangi community had been rehabilitated by Dr Ambedkar Development Corporation and a report had already been sent to the government on May 10, 2010. The UDD had also stated that they had been rehabilitated under the Vajpayee Urban Housing Project and were allotted residential sites with financial assistance. After hearing the counsel for petitioners, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar directed the petitioners to submit the status report on the steps taken up for rehabilitation.