The police-civic body pact for demolition of illegal structures is turning out to be a non-starter. The civic authorities had to postpone 10 demolitions in 15 days because of non-availability of the force.

According to the arrangement, which came into effect on December 10, a force should have been kept in readiness in the Lalbazar and Alipore district police headquarters for helping the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) discharge its duties.

“We had written to the police for help in the demolition of illegal structures in Malanga Lane, Topsia, MM Ali Road, Aga Mehedi Street and the Bhowanipore area. The cops, however, were not available, resulting in cancellation of the demolition at the last moment,” said an official in the CMC demolition squad.

The squad was all but hounded out by traders of Nandaram Market on Tuesday when it tried to demolish a beam on the 10th floor of the fire-ravaged building.

“We could have gone ahead with the job if there was adequate police protection,” said an engineer of the civic building department.

Deputy commissioner (headquarters) Vineet Goyal said: “Our manpower is limited. We will have to provide men from the existing set-up for the demolition. We are trying to find out alternative ways to assist the CMC.”

Municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay said: “Like the CMC, the police have a lot of work to do. Because of the workload, the police authorities may fail to provide assistance on a particular date, but that does not mean that they are not cooperating with us.”

He added that the problems would be discussed with the police brass.