Campa Cola case: Residents continue to resist eviction; BMC calls off action on day two
Mumbai: Holding their ground, defiant Campa Cola residents denied entry to Mumbai civic officials to cut off water and power supply to illegal flats for the second day on Saturday even as the authorities filed a police complaint against the occupants for obstructing them in discharge of their duties.
In a repeat of yesterday's failed exercise, officials from Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) descended upon the housing complex in plush Worli area of south Mumbai amid heavy security presence and made futile attempts to convince the residents to let them in.
Women and girls with folded hands were seen pleading with MCGM officials from behind the grilled gates, locked and secured with bamboo poles, to understand the "humanitarian crisis" and go away.
See pictures: Campa Cola D(emolition) Day: This fizz refuses to die down
A crowd of residents milled around within the compound where a havan was performed as chants of hymns and scent of burning joss sticks filled the air.
The civic authorities, armed with the Supreme Court order for demolishing 96 illegally constructed flats in the housing complex, repeatedly pleaded with the residents to allow them to enter to cut off power, water and piped gas supplies to those units, but in vain.
The Supreme Court had on June 3 dismissed the plea of the residents of illegal flats against an earlier order asking them to vacate their premises by May 31.
Following the SC order, MCGM had given notices to the owners of the illegal units to hand over the keys so that demolition could be carried out, but none did. The MCGM deadline for vacating the flats expired yesterday and, as part of their plan to force the occupants to vacate, the civic authorities have decided to cut off essential supplies like water and power to them.
"We have been requesting the residents to let us perform our duty but they are unrelenting. We are leaving for the day but will come back tomorrow and continue our efforts to convince them to let us do our job," Deputy Municipal Commissioner Anand Waghralkar told reporters.
Watch: Residents at Campa Cola society protesting against demolition by BMC officials
Not using force today,trying to convince ppl that they are taking law in hands- Anand Waghralkar,Dy Commissioner, BMC pic.twitter.com/OTOuh95OL1
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 21, 2014