Police on Wednesday afternoon demolished a shanty at the rooftop slum in central Kolkata’s Karnani Estate that started as the servant quarters for the cooks, khansamas and drivers employed by American and British officers who lived in the building during the 1940s.
The Telegraph Online had reported how most of the residents of the rooftop slum at 209, AJC Bose Road have lived all their lives, as did their parents and grandparents, in around 127 dingy tenements with concrete and asbestos roofs, each with at least four members of a family.
The Beniapukur police cited a court order and said they had orders to evict the residents, who maintained that the cops did not show them any documents.
The lock put on Lachmi Bahadur's house by Beniapukur Police.
Around 1.15pm, a team of around five cops barged into the one-room shanty of Lachmi Bahadur, 65, and told her to gather her belongings and leave.
“They asked my mother if her name was Lachmi Thapa,” said her son, Sunny. “We told them her name was Lachmi Bahadur. But they refused to listen to us. They said they had come to lock the house. They threatened that if we did not remove the belongings, they would throw everything away. There was no other choice but to accept. We don’t know what to do now.”
Lachmi’s utensils, mattress and other possessions were dumped on a side of the corridor while the room with green walls was emptied and the door shut with a lock and a chain without any seal.
“Where will I go now,” asked a teary-eyed Lachmi, who has lived in the same place since she was 5 years old. “I have nowhere else to go. I got married here, I worked all my life in a flat below till the owners left. This is the only home that I know. My son was born here, he married here, his children were also born here. Where will I go?”
All of Lachmi's belongings now lie outside her house with nowhere to go.
The police on the spot, who were sitting in their car outside the premises, refused to speak on the matter when we approached them.
The Telegraph Online also tried to reach out to the OC of Beniapukur PS,Rajib De and the DC of the South East Division, Bholanath Pandey. Both did not respond to our calls.
The other residents are scared it will be their turn next.
When The Telegraph Online had visited the rooftop slum in February, several residents had expressed apprehension over an eviction notice that was served several years ago. One portion of the roof has been converted into an indoor sports turf.
Many of the residents on Wednesday poured out their anger before the cops. Another team of police officers was waiting downstairs.
“Where is the court order?” asked one of the residents.
A uniformed cop shot back: ”Who wants to see the order?”
One resident, Mantu said: “This is an effort by the owners to kick us out and expand the sports place. Our lives have become hell since it opened up. People play till early in the morning, there is always a heavy noise. We barely get to sleep. The elderly do not get any rest.”
Five years back the electricity supply to the rooftop slum was disconnected. They do not get water through the day either. Nor do they have proper toilets.
“A lawyer supported us and we got individual electricity meters installed. The owners have never directly held any dialogue with us. Once in a while someone comes to lock one of the dwellings or to install something or the other on the other side of the roof,” said another resident, Raju.
Picture taken from the window showing the present condition of the house where Lachmi Bahadur lived for 60 years till the police evicted her.
In the 1990s, the Alipore Court had ruled in favour of the rooftop dwellers, allowing them to stay. The residents have no access to the Karnani Estates lift.
“People have died here because we couldn’t take them out of the building and they could not get the required medical attention,” said one resident, Munna.
Another said: “Where is the Ward 64 councillor Sammi Jahan? During elections she comes seeking our votes. Today when we really needed her she did not bother to come. If she does not come to our rescue during trouble, why should we vote for her?”
Contacted, Jahan said she had spoken with the police. “I have sent my people to look into the matter,” she said. “I told the police they will not touch any other shanty on the rooftop.”