Historical Context

This section details the historical narratives of Pottery Town, Gandhi Gramam, and William’s Town. It captures factual accounts, oral histories and memories of the residents as recalled by them while talking about the transformation that had taken place in this neighbourhood over years.

Pottery Town

The history of utilized land, commercial and residential, by the potters have a history dating back to 120 years. The potters were brought in by the Wadiar kings and were allocated 35000 sqft of land for rehabilitation. This land was chosen due to the proximity to lake which was an essential part of their pottery process.

By 1926, their migration was completed and Kumbara Choola known so in earlier days was christened as New Pottery Town 45 years ago by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, bringing the 40 work sheds functioning in the land under the civic body.

As time passed, the land allotted to the potters wasn’t sufficient and in 1974, the potters acquired 20000 sqft of land on lease from the government.

“Sarkar se ye land lease par liya, tab humara potter community ka 1 representation tha parliament mai. Unhone hi madat kiya land ke liya.”

(Chandrashekhar, 51, Potter)

“Corporator Muttukumar Thana uspe mitti dal dal ke pura finishing karke talab pe ground bana diya... hum waha khelte the."

(Gafoor, 65, Runs a nano-enterprise)

Gandhi Gramam

Located adjacent to Pottery Town, the story of Gandhi Gramam residents dates back to mid to late 1970s when its earlier residents migrated from Kolar Gold Fields, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“Mera daddy KGF se yaha aya, isse pehle Tannery Road ke yaha rehte the. Waise hi bohot logo aye the yaha.”

(Gundappa, 70, Resident)

Many older respondents recall the area at that time to be a huge jungle which was wiped out to create settlements. There have been differences in responses regarding the timeline of occupancy of the land which was owned earlier by the Karnataka Slum Development Board.
According to residents, a major breakthrough happened in the 1970’s when Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, visited the area and, overnight, transferred the ownership of land to its inhabitants and was given a Swadheena Patra, as the legal document recognising their residence on this land.

“Yaha toh rato rat Indira Gandhi Ji ayi thi. Unhone humare sas sasur ko slate ke upar likh kar ye jameen de di"

(Phool Bano, 54, Resident)

This Swadheena Patra, after a ‘lock-in’ period of 10 years, can be converted into a ‘hakku patra’, which later can be used for registration of property.

Currently, the land is owned by the BBMP and although the conversion to a more legally secure property is an option since it costs a substantial amount of money, only few residents have actually converted their Swadheena patra to hakku patra and even fewer have converted it into registered properties.

William's Town

Historically, William’s Town and its extended land belonged to the British government and was reserved for the “sweeper section”.

“This area belonged to saf - safai wale kamgar in the British Era, unko diya tha ye land. That's why you see these sections in this area in 1st and 2nd Cross Roads.”

(Gafoor, 65, Runs a nano-enterprise)

After the ‘lock-in’ period on land ownership by the government was over, the land-selling activities accelerated in the area. At the time, houses were sold at comparatively nominal rates and as a result, William’s Town witnessed an inflow of newer residents since the 1960’s.

"Unka wo period khatam hua toh logo ne bohot saste rate mai ghar bech diya. Yaha ek madam thi, usne toh Rs.500/- mai ghar becha. Wo jo school hai na, waha par 40'x60' ka land 600 mai bech diya tha us time pe."

(Gafoor, 65, Runs a nano-enterprise)

"Mai jab 2000 mai yaha aya tha, tabh land value in lakhs thi, par abh crores mein ho gayi hai."

(Waheed Bhaijan, 72, Resident)

Through our interactions, we also found that the area also witnessed a hike in land value when people from the middle-east began to invest in the properties and some respondents highlight a large number of earlier residents moved out of the area and only 10% of them continue to live here.