In what turned out to be a tough day for the building demolition team of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the squad faced a stiff resistance by locals while pulling down portions of an ‘illegal’ and ‘dangerous’ structure at Paharpur Road of Ward 134, in Garden Reach, today.
The situation turned tense after a large number of locals posed an obstruction while pulling down portions of a building that had leaned visibly and had been identified for demolition by the KMC. The agitators alleged that the KMC team had demolished the wrong portion. According to the locals, some of them claiming to be the owners of shops on the ground floor of the building, alleged that instead of the ‘dangerous’ portion that was built on the upper floors, the team demolished portions of the ceiling of the ground floor. The agitating crowd refused to budge and threatened to take their lives if the administration did not consider their demands.
With a hundred-strong crowd obstructing the demolition, several police personnel were deployed in the area to control the agitators. The police dispersed the crowd after some time while the demolition works were put on hold due to the tense atmosphere gripping the area.
Meanwhile, retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Asok Ganguly today raised questions the rampant illegal constructions in the KMC areas. While Mr Ganguly was in the middle of the Press conference, he received a call from the mayor of KMC Firhad Hakim. Mr Ganguly informed that the mayor on the phone had claimed that the illegal constructions were during the Left regime. Countering the claim, Mr Ganguly asked why those structures were not pulled down despite the representatives of the civic body being responsible for the task.