Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the demolition of a six-storeyed building in north Calcutta’s Narkeldanga, which the Calcutta Municipal Corporation had earlier termed “unauthorised” and accused police of not cooperating in getting it vacated.
The judge turned down an appeal for a stay on the court’s demolition order by a resident of the building.
Justice Sinha said the demolition of the building on MN Chatterjee Sarani should begin on Saturday. “Who will save you if the building collapses? The demolition will begin on Saturday. The police will be present,” she said while rejecting the plea for a stay.
The officer-in-charge of Narkeldanga police station appeared before the court responding to Justice Sinha’s order on Thursday. The advocate representing the state said the building had been vacated.
“The order for demolition was passed on January 4 by this court. Two days later, from January 6, the demolition of the building’s interior had begun,” lawyer Amitesh Banerjee, representing the state, said. “It’s unfortunate the CMC has alleged non-cooperation by the police.”
Debjit Mukherjee, representing the civic body, told the court that a CMC sub-assistant engineer was told by the police on Thursday that the demolition would be difficult because the elections were near.
After hearing both sides, Justice Sinha passed the order saying the building’s demolition must begin on Saturday.
Metro visited the building at the intersection of the busy Narkeldanga Main Road and MN Chatterjee Sarani.
Its facade was covered with sheets, some of which had worn off revealing the plastered walls of some of the apartments.
Most of the area’s residents this newspaper spoke to were tight-lipped about the building and its developer. Many said they had just arrived in the locality and were not aware of the construction.
“The structure came up in just about six or seven months. There used to be hectic construction activity even a few months back. Construction stopped about a little over three weeks back,” said Mohammad Sajid. “In January, a CMC team arrived and damaged the two top floors of the building. Holes were made on the floors and some of the walls were pulled down.”
Several shop owners sharing the building’s address but located on the other side said nothing changed after the demolition drive. “Workers would continue to work, plastering the walls. Bamboo structures for workers to stand on and work are still up. Kuchh nahi ruka (nothing stopped),” said a shop owner.
Some residents of the area said the building came up on a plot where there used to be a two-storeyed structure.