High voltage drama at Santosha Apartment, women oppose demolition of three floors

Alok Mishra

Patna: A high voltage drama was witnessed at Santosha Apartment in Bander Bagicha under Kotwali police station in the state capital since Friday morning. A large number of officials from Patna district administration and Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) had reached there at 9 am on Friday to demolish three floor of the building, which the Supreme Court (SC) had earlier ordered for demolition.
The drama started at around 9 am when a large number of officials, labourers and policemen reached there to demolish three floor of the apartment but the women inmates of the flats locked the main gate of the apartment and did not allow any outsider inside the campus. Most of the women said that they had respect for SC’s order. They, however, said that the SC had also directed for payment of compensation to the families living there. They also demanded that trained hands should be deployed to demolish the three floors as untrained hands might also damage the rest of the floors, in which several families are residing.
The women were very vocal in their demands and asked the officials to find a solution to their problems. Seeing the situation going out of hands, the officials sought reinforcement to control the situation. A JCB machine and ambulance also rushed there.
Sources at PMC revealed that the officials had earlier come out with a tender for demolishing the upper three floors of the apartment but not a single agency having trained persons toperform such work filled the tender. The officials then had to depend on local labourers for the purspose.
At around 3 pm, some of the labourers tried to break the locks at the main gate, which was vehemently opposed by the women. Some of them even started worshipping Gods to save them and raised slogans “Jai Shree Ram.” Though an attempt was made by some of the cops to barge inside the campus through another gate, it was also foiled by the women.
The officials gave indications that they would adopt tough stance if the women did pay heed to their pleas. One of the protesting women also fell unconscious and she was given medical treatment there. The officials also asked the driver of JCB machine to demolish the boundary of the apartment so that they could enter inside and start the process to demolish the three floors.
Meanwhile, power supply to the three floors is likely to be disconnected and PMC officials said that an FIR would be lodged against those who created obstruction in the demolition of the three floors. Seeing a large number of people including mediapersons gathering outside the apartment, the district administration stopped the people from reaching near the apartment.