A payloader raided a minority-dominated pocket in Narkeldanga to raze an “illegal” building on Thursday afternoon.

Only a portion of the five-storey building, at Kasai Basti Cross Lane, was demolished on Thursday, said sources in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The remaining will be done in phases, they said.

The demolition drive went beyond Tiljala on a day sources in the civic body and the Bengal administration said they were merely executing old court orders whose execution had been tardy until now.

“There are existing court orders for the demolition of several unauthorised buildings. We are complying with the orders. The Narkeldanga building was one of many such buildings,” a KMC official said.

The demolition order was passed by a division bench of the high court in the third week of April, sources said.

Sources in the government said the court orders were not new. But the execution was “tardy” because of political compulsions. “Now, the game has changed. We will play by the book. The rule of law will prevail,” said one of them.

The building in Narkeldanga has tailoring units on the first floor. The rest of it is residential. More than 20 families live there. Over a hundred people, said neighbours.

The machine, accompanied by men — police and paramilitary jawans — reached the neighbourhood around 2pm. Barricades were set up on both ends of the narrow lane. A crowd built up beyond the barricades.

A section of the residents claimed they had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the demolition ordered by a division bench of Calcutta High Court.

“My 28-year-old daughter had a heart surgery last year. We are on the fifth (top) floor. A portion of the terrace was demolished. The repeated sounds were too disturbing for her,” said a woman.

The demolition drive followed a warning from Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on May 13.

He said he had asked the CESC to conduct an internal audit of illegal buildings across the city and stop power supply to them.

“We are coordinating with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The civic body is identifying the illegal buildings, and we are identifying unauthorised connections,” said CESC spokesperson.

Sources in the utility said new power connections are issued after basic checks.

“Otherwise, every home would end up with multiple meters. But the civic body must inform us if a building is illegal. We will act accordingly,” a source said.

A KMC official said that a similar court-ordered demolition of a portion of a restaurant in central Calcutta had recently been carried out.

“The demolition continued for more than a week and ended on May 11,” the official said.