Barricades were lifted, shops reopened, and people went about their business on GJ Khan Road in Tiljala on Saturday.

A giant yellow earthmover, which had spooked the residents since Wednesday, rolled out on Friday.

A contingent of police and paramilitary forces, however, was still deployed. The jackboots and two partially demolished buildings were the only signs of the simmering tension in the Muslim-majority pocket for much of the week.

Grocery stores, gift shops and mobile repair shops were among the establishments that opened after a long gap on Saturday.

Children played cricket in the lanes. Two-wheelers moved through the stretch where police barricades had stood until Friday afternoon.

Tea stalls that had remained shut since Tuesday saw customers gathering again. A 25-year-old man who works at a mobile repairing shop said he reopened his shop on Friday evening after the police removed the barricades.

“Every day, I came to check the situation. On Friday evening, when I saw the barricades had been removed, I opened my shop. The police had told us to keep the shops shut after the fire,” he said.

A man who runs a grocery shop said the closure inflicted heavy losses.

“It almost felt like a curfew. I had to keep my shop closed for four days. That is a loss of ₹1,500 a day,” the 50-year-old said.

Calcutta High Court on Friday stayed the demolition of a Tiljala building, which the civic authorities had been pulling down since Wednesday, after the owners argued that no notice had been served on them.

The bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury said the portions that had become dangerous following two days of demolition could be removed, but only after consultations with the owners.

The order came on a writ petition moved by three members of the family that lived in the five-storey building and owned the structure as well as a leather goods manufacturing unit that operated there.

A fire in the building on Tuesday killed two workers and injured three. The civic body also began pulling down an adjacent three-storey building on similar ground: illegal construction.

Several families lived in the two buildings being pulled down.

On Saturday, the guardrail barricades in front of the houses remained, but the demolition work had stopped.

A resident of the five-storey building said they were told on Friday that they could go inside to fetch household stuff that they had to leave behind. On Saturday, she said the police refused permission, stating the status quo meant no one could go inside.

“The court has ordered a status quo. The police are now saying that to enter the house, we will need special permission from the court. The school uniforms of children are still there,” she said.

A 40-year-old homemaker who lives in the same neighbourhood said residents finally felt at ease stepping out.

“For the last few days, there was fear and tension everywhere. Today, children are outside again, and people can move freely. It feels
peaceful after many days,” she said.

The partially demolished and sealed building, however, continued to attract curious onlookers. Many visitors stopped near the site to take photographs and videos of the structure that has become the centre of attention in the locality.