Residents of Bhagwat Nagar, led by Kumhrar MLA Arun Kumar Sinha, stage a protest against Patna Municipal Corporation’s attempt to demolish their homes and (above) relatives of Mehtab Alam argue with an official at Ruban Emergency Hospital on SP Verma Road in Patna on Tuesday. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh and Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Sept. 6: With explicit support from Kumhrar MLA Arun Kumar Sinha, the residents of Bhagwat Nagar today thwarted the attempt of the civic body to demolish the illegal structures in the colony following a Supreme Court order.

The residents, led by Sinha, virtually chased away Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, representatives of the district administration and cops. They claimed that the civic body had no right to evict them because they had purchased plots from farmers several decades ago and paid taxes to PMC.

Armed with bulldozers, water cannons and riot control vehicles, the civic body officials had reached Bhagwat Nagar to demolish constructions in the illegal colony in the vicinity of the Ashokan empire site following a Supreme Court order to the state government to vacate the locality. The civic body had earlier served notice on around 750 building owners in Bhagwat Nagar, asking them to vacate the premises within a given deadline.

Lallan Singh, the executive engineer of Kankerbagh circle, said the civic body team had to retreat today because of inadequate security. “We will now write to the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police to provide enough manpower and armed cops at a later date for the demolition,” he said.

Another senior PMC official said the colony has to be vacated because the government had allotted a major chunk of area in the locality to a finance department co-operative society. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also repeatedly said the encroachments in the locality were coming in the way of excavating the historical Mauryan site.

Residents of Bhagwat Nagar lie down on the road to block the entry of bulldozers, in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

The agitated residents were not ready to buy the logics, though. They lied down on the road and did not let the bulldozers enter the colony. Later in the day, they squatted on a dharna chanting anti-government slogans. The MLA strongly backed them.

Sinha told The Telegraph: “There are about 750 concrete constructions in the colony and its population is around 20,000. These people constructed their houses following the due procedure and the government provided them with required facilities needed for a residential colony. After sleeping for all these years, the authorities are now hell bent on throwing these people out of their home. As a politician representing these residents, I fully support them.”

The MLA also said: “As a BJP leader, I am a part of the government as well. But I won’t allow something like this (demolition) to happen. At the same time, I want people to calm down. I want to ensure that their anger does not hurt government functionaries. I am sitting on dharna with them.”

Spread over around 22 acres of land, the “illegal buildings” at Bhagwat Nagar are said to be located near the famous Mauryan site of Kumhrar. ASI has been waiting for the removal of the encroachments for a long time to undertake further excavation at the site, which boasts of the remains of the once-magnificent 80-pillared hall and the arogyashala (recuperation hub) of Dhanwantari, often termed the earliest Indian medical practitioner.