After attacks during demolition KMC engineers to shun drives
The Statesman | 13 July 2024
Facing the wrath of the occupants, residents or even outsiders allegedly, the engineers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation have decided to boycott the demolition duties assigned to them by the civic body.
The engineers have given a unanimous call for providing safety to them during the ongoing demolition drives undertaken by the municipal corporation.
The engineers under the umbrella of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Engineer’s and Allied Services are citing incidents of attack by the occupants or local residents of houses during demolition. According to the members of the engineers’ body, of late, the engineers accompanied by fewer policemen are often faced with the challenges of attacks by the local residents. The presence of inadequate police personnel or even no action from the ones on spot allegedly, puts the engineers’ life at risk.
As informed by the members of the organization, yesterday, the demolition team was faced with a similar situation in ward 89. The chaos took place at Prince Rahimuddin Lane ward in Borough X when the team arrived to pull down the illegal construction but had to face intense resistance from the locals.
The chaos ended in three engineers of the civic body including a woman, getting injured allegedly while on duty in the presence of the police. As alleged by the secretary of the engineers’ body, Manas Sinha, in a worse scenario that occurred at Entally recently, the resisting locals allegedly even tried to burn and kill the engineers of the demolition team.
As rued by the secretary of the organization, the authorities are unable to provide protection to the engineers while carrying out the demolition duty. The engineers of the civic body are therefore protesting alleging threats to their safety and decided to boycott the demolition activities for now.
Demanding protection during the ongoing demolition drive, members of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Engineer’s and Allied Services submitted a deputation to the mayor’s office.