Bhagwat Nagar residents stage a dharna on Wednesday. Picture by Sachin

Residents of Bhagwat Nagar have devised a “lock-the-colony” plan to save their homes from the demolition drive of the civic body.

The residents have planned to draw their own defence line by sealing the entry and exit points of the Kankerbagh colony from October 15 if the district administration decides to demolish the illegal structures on October 17.

A meeting was convened on Wednesday night to chalk out ways in which the residents of the colony could save their houses. Besides “locking up the colony”, the residents decided in the meeting to block the old and new bypass roads to prevent the civic body’s bulldozers from coming near Bhagwat Nagar.

“I visited the office of the additional district magistrate (law and order) on Wednesday and saw the letter. The Patna Municipal Corporation has requested the administration for a strong force of 200 policemen, a Vajra vehicle and fire tenders. The officials of the administration told me that they were doing their job and the request had been forwarded to the office of the senior superintendent of police. Now, it is certain that the administration would demolish our houses. But we are not going to let that happen,” said Saroj Kant Tripathy, the president of the Adarsh, Bhagwat, Jai Prakash Nagar Makaan Bachao Sangharsh Morcha.

He said: “On September 26, the administration tried to enter the colony but faced stiff resistance from us. This time, they would be more in number. From October 15 evening, we will block the entry and exit points of the colony. No one from the administration would be allowed to enter the area. We will fight till the finish.”

According to the plan of the morcha, even Nitish Kumar’s yatra would not be spared if the PMC takes to demolition drive.

“Nothing will be allowed to move. If even one house is touched, the Adhikar Yatra of Nitish Kumar would face the consequences. The highways leading to Patna, especially the old and new bypass roads, would be blocked. We will not allow any vehicular movement. Leaders from the ruling party and the Opposition had promised so many things but now everybody is accusing each other. This is the irony. Now, as the administration prepares to march towards our colony, we residents won’t allow them to enter. Men, women and children will be on the streets to resist them,” Tripathy said.

Like Tripathy, countless residents fear that October 17 would sound the death knell for them.

“We have been protesting since September 26 braving everything. During all this time, leaders of the ruling party and the Opposition consoled us and promised help. But it was pure politics. FIR was lodged against 151 people, including women and dead people. How insensitive can a government be? We have been living here for long and suddenly everyone wants us to be homeless. I don’t know what is in store on October 17, but now we are ready to go to any extent,” Manoj Kumar, a resident of the locality, said.

PMC on Tuesday requested the district administration to provide them with adequate force on October 17 so that the civic body could demolish the 151 illegal structures at the Kankerbagh colony. The Supreme Court has ordered their demolition.

If the civic body gets the personnel, it would get more teeth to bring down the houses of 4,000 odd residents just before the festive season sets in.

The officials in the district administration had said they were indecisive on whether to go ahead with the eviction drive or not because of the Puja.