Indian Express 26.03.2010
Stephen Court: HC halts KMC demolition squad in its tracks
Kolkata/Ranchi:
Hours after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation sent a demolition squad to raze the “illegal” floors in the Stephen Court at Park Street this morning, some residents procured a stay order from the Calcutta High Court, which said the municipal body would not carry out the demolition work without its permission.
Debraj Sharma and other residents of the Stephen Court alleged in their petition that the KMC suddenly started the demolition work at 4th, 5th and 6th floors after issuing a notice in the morning.
Justice Girish Chandra Gupta, who issued the stay order, wanted to know why the KMC started the demolition work in hurry saying the gutted portion should not be razed for the interest of the investigation. A total 64 families are residing at Stephen Court, 18 Park Street.
Earlier, the KMC’s demolition squad reached the spot around 11 am and began its work amid loud protests from residents who wanted to retrieve their belongings from their flats.
“We have important documents and records in our office. Our office is safe. We requested the police to let us go inside the office so that we can collect our documents. But we were not allowed,” said Rawat, who lost his elder daughter Shruti Bansal in Tuesday’s fire.“I have lost my daughter along with 12 of my employees who were like my family. Three of my daughters used to work in this office in apartment number 5K, which we bought in 1991. We did not know the portion in which we run our office was illegally constructed. Shruti worked ceaselessly for this company and when the company made its own place in the market, Shruti left us. Now, our office is also gone,” said Rawat before he broke down.
We have all our belongings left in our apartment. We have been waiting since Tuesday night, but were not allowed to enter the premises. Now, the demolition squads have arrived. I fear all our belongings including jewellery will be looted. We want to retrieve our valuables,” said Debashish Guha Niyogi, who owns flat (6H) on 6th floor in 3rd block of the building.
As per KMC records, there are 67 flats in the block. Apparently, the residential flats in the block are not badly affected.
“We will demolish the affected potions that can collapse anytime. We will not demolish these before judging the strength of the structure,” said Debashish Kar, DG II, Building, KMC. “How can we allow them inside such premises that can collapse any time? The administration is not there to rob the people,” Kar said.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Ardhendhu Sewn later said the state government would file an appeal in the HC, asking it to lift the stay order. He said an inquiry commission will also be set up to probe into the fire incident in which 24 lives were lost.
