Stir halts BMC demolition drive, 2nd time in a month
Times of India | 17 February 2024
Kolkata: Tension gripped Bidhannagar’s Nayapatti area bordering Salt Lake on Friday afternoon after a team of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) went to the spot to demolish an “illegal” club building in the area. The team faced resistance from the locals, who staged mass agitation, with the local women creating a shield by blocking the road and the agitators threatening to kill themselves.They even got involved in a scuffle with the civic team and cops, forcing the BMC officials to return.
This is the second time in a month that the BMC team failed to demolish the building. In Jan, the civic authorities had gone to demolish the club building but failed following local resistance.
Officials said that they had gone to conduct the demolition drive following High Court orders. “Our team faced huge resistance from locals, including women. They threatened to kill themselves by pouring kerosene on their body. We will inform the court on the day’s proceedings," said a BMC official.
A huge police force reached the spot as a scuffle broke out between the police and agitators. The agitation continued for a few hours before the police could bring the situation under control. “The club has been running for several years and various social welfare activities are conducted by it for the residents of the locality,” said an agitator.
BMC in the past one year has lodged about 150 fresh FIRs of unauthorised building constructions mostly in the Rajarhat-Gopalpur area. The civic authorities were in an average receiving around 100 letters from the banks every month for verification out of which around 20% to 25% buildings were found to be illegally constructed. The authorities have been trying to conduct demolition drives of unauthorised buildings but are facing resistance from locals.
Earlier last year, the civic body had sent self evacuation and demolition notices to developers of 322 unauthorised buildings in BMC area but officials said that the instructions were not followed.