The octogenarians who will not give up

From collecting money to build toilets for primary students in government schools to saving a lake from land sharks, Padmanabha and Rao are the dynamic duo of civic activism, writes Aditi Phadnis

Padmanabha Arkalgudand and S Venkata Subba Rao aged 83 years and 81 respectively, are the best of pals — they have been, for over 60 years since their days in law college. Padmanabha retired as a senior vice-president from ITC Ltd and Rao retired as general manager from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Bengaluru more than 20 years ago. Since then, Rao has saved a lake from the clutches of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and freely admits his contribution to the ~8 lakh crore NPAS owed to public sector banks.

The two friends have raised money and personally supervised the building of toilets in at least three government primary schools that together account for more than 1000 pupils — small boys and girls. They have many other projects on their mind. This is Padmanabha and Rao’s story and all the usual clichés apply: They’re neither tired nor retired; and ultimately, age is just a number.

The story of civic activism begins in the 1970s when Rao first built his house on the banks of the 14-odd acre Byresandra lake. “It was a full-fledged lake then, with boats and fishing. In 1985, the Laxmanrao committee appointed by the Karnataka government to revive lakes suggested ways in which the Byresandra lake could be protected and turned into a tourist spot,” Rao said. But around 1992, the lake began drying up — it was probably drained of water deliberately. The lake bed was visible and residents in the area began noticing hundreds of lorries that would thunder in late at night or early morning piled with construction debris. The central government-run National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) campus was nearby and a lot of the land had been encroached by slums. “The plan probably was to shift the slums to the Byresandra lake bed,” Rao said.

The residents led by Rao filed a suit in the Karnataka High Court and the case dragged on and on. In 2005, “I went for a walk and found a notice pasted on the watchman’s cabin. It had been issued by the Debt Recovery Tribunal and said the lake was being sold by public auction, so anyone who was interested could buy it.” Upon enquiring with the DRT, Rao found that the entire lake had been pledged as collateral with the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) by a builder, who had then fallen on hard times, was unable to repay his loan and the collateral was in the process of being auctioned by the bank. The lake was valued at ~5 crore and the builder owed the bank (with interest and penalties) around ~6 crore. Rao rushed to the High Court to seek a stay. The then Chief Justice said: “Today a lake is being sold. Tomorrow it will be the Vidhana Soudha. No stay.” Within days, the lake was sold at a cost of ~7.60 crore, with the buyers paying 25 per cent immediately and getting a month to pay the rest.

Rao’s advocate returned to the court to tell the Chief Justice that the lake had been sold. A stay was granted. The bank, anxious to recover its money, appealed in the Supreme

Court. “Being a bank officer, I knew there would be an appeal,” Rao said and immediately filed a caveat. The bank’s appeal was dismissed. By now, it was 2011 and Justice J S Khehar had been appointed Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. He not only ruled that the auction was void but also decreed that the lake be developed by the Bangalore Municipality. The lake is now a limpid pool of tranquillity in South Bangalore. No one knows what happened to the bad loan.

This had been a good fight and the two friends were ready for more. One day, out on their morning walk, they found a terrible stench and discovered it was from a public toilet in Byresandra. The toilet was opposite a primary school with 150 students which had no toilet of its own. It had no doors, and the inside was filthy.

The two decided to renovate the toilet and sent messages and emails to friends to raise funds. The contractors they approached wanted between ~3 and ~4 lakh to renovate it. The friends decided to give out a labour contract and supervise the renovations themselves. They managed to do it for ~1.60 lakh. They had, in the meantime, raised almost ~3 lakh. They sought the advice of the donors who said they should continue to renovate school toilets. So they went from school to school. “In one school we found some kind donor had built a toilet for boys but there was none for the girls. So the girls were asked to use the boys’ toilet and the boys were asked to use a designated spot in the open. We organised separate toilets for the girls and boys…” Rao chuckled. Their third school toilet project will become functional from this weekend.

The two friends have a lot of fun together. They are quite content filling the breach where the government can’t reach until it is shamed into acting. And they are both neither tired nor retired.