A Kolkata Municipal Corporation team demolished some of the illegal portions of a building in Jadavpur over two days, despite facing resistance.

Portions of the building had been pulled down twice earlier but were rebuilt in no time.

Sources in the civic body said the entire four-storey structure in Jadavpur’s Garfa was illegal.

The KMC’s demolition squad first razed portions of the structure a couple of months before Durga Puja. Parts of the structure was demolished once more a few days before the Pujas but it was rebuilt again.

“On Tuesday, we went to the building to demolish it for the third time. We faced resistance from a group of youths and some women who claimed to be the residents of the building. The demolition could not be carried out on Monday as well,” said a source in the KMC.

“The youths abused and threatened the KMC engineers,” the source added.

Officers from Garfa police station were present there.

According to the source, the team of three engineers, the demolition squad and the police went back again on Wednesday. “We managed to pull down portions of the terrace,” said the source.

On similar occasions earlier, the KMC team rarely went back to the building the next day. The return by the KMC team on Wednesday after facing resistance marks a change from how the civic body has so far dealt with such situations.

Sources said the ground floor, first floor and second floor of the building have residents while the top floor is vacant. “We have pulled down portions of the top floor,” said a KMC source.

Mayor Firhad Hakim had earlier asked KMC officials to see that an illegal building was spotted during its construction and pulled down before people started occupying the apartments.

The KMC has formed a dedicated team of engineers at its headquarters to demolish illegal buildings if engineers from the local ward or borough feel insecure or
threatened.