Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Dec 11: In a surprising development, staff deployed by the local municipality came equipped with machinery and began razing to the ground a roadside petty shop that had been operational near Sri Laxmi Venkataramana Temple on main road here on Tuesday December 9 morning. It is gathered that the petty shop in question had valid municipal licence, and no advance intimation of demolition was served on its owner.

The shop in question is owned by a local named Madhava. He used to get his licence renewed every year, and this year too he had renewed his licence. On Tuesday afternoon, a municipal employee named Sharat approached this petty shop along with a backhoe and tried to demolish the shop. Sharat had come equipped with an order issued by his higher officials for undertaking the work of demolition. Local people came to the rescue of Madhava and strongly opposed the demolition move.

Friction between the two sides grew hotter with passage of time. Sensing that the issue was going out of hand, local police reached the spot and invited both the teams to the police station to sort out the issues. The demolition was stopped midway, and the JCB was sent back.