Buildings across city on KMC bulldozer list

Kolkata: The civic body has put up demolition notices on several buildings in Tiljala and Beleghata, giving residents 48 hours to vacate the properties branded "unauthorised". Residents who had moved into those buildings in the past 15 years feel the bulldozer fear and are worried about moving homes in a short span of time. What adds to their worry is that the developers who handed them the properties are staying off the radar.The residents of buildings in Tiljala where KMC fixed notices staged a protest on GJ Khan Road, alleging that the developer had deceived them by calling the properties authorised. "Today, the notice has been put up on our building but the developer's phone is switched off. Where do we go with our children and elderly family members?" asked a resident. The civic body issued the notice to an illegal building — Elite Primo — on 57, GJ Khan Road. But another high-rise, Home@57, already exists there with the same address. Home@57 resident Asif Iqbal alleged, "The illegal building does not have an address. We are shocked with the KMC notice issued to our address. But our building is authorised and our developer was different." Five buildings in Beleghata, including a restaurant, got the notice. Local strongman Raju Naskar was the developer of most of them, said locals. Businessman Mukti Lal Hoodati had bought his flat on East Coolia Road for Rs 54 lakh in 2011, and the demolition notice came as a shocker. "I had taken Rs 26 lakh loan from the bank to buy this property. If this is an illegal building, how come the bank sanctioned my loan?" he asked.Another resident Anupam Paul said, "Even a 20-year-old construction has got the demolition notice. Where will we go if the houses are razed one after another." The Tiljala-Topsia belt falls under Red Zone as far as demolition of illegal buildings is concerned. Some other areas that have got the similar tag include Garden Reach-Metiabruz, Rajabazar, Burrabazar and some neighbourhoods off EM Bypass. "Around 70% of the buildings have been constructed illegally in the Tiljala-Topsia belt in the past two decades," the civic official said. According to KMC sources, if the state govt takes a decision to demolish illegal buildings across the red zone, thousands of buildings will go under the hammer. "According to a preliminary list, we will need to demolish no less than 3,000 apartment buildings across six boroughs," said a KMC official.A civic official said it was common knowledge that building department officials from borough offices rarely venture into these ‘illegal construction zones' as the situation on the ground remains hostile. Similarly, officials in charge of the Burrabazar-Rabindra Sarani (Chitpore) belt said access to this belt was extremely challenging. According to a KMC official, several of his colleagues from boroughs gingerly set foot into localities that pose a challenge, with many skirting pockets where the situation can turn volatile.A buildings department official said senior civic officials wanted the borough-level staff to display courage as the effects of sparing an illegally constructed building from demolition could be far reaching.