Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Mar 26: In the last general session of the city municipality here, a resolution was passed to clear illegal buildings.

Following the same, in an early morning operation undertaken on Saturday March 26, the building which housed a hotel belonging to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) district president here, was brought down.

The operation was led by municipal officers including municipal commissioner, Udupi tahsildar, town police station sub-inspector Pramod Kumar, and other senior police officials in large numbers. Many police personnel were deployed to look after the security aspect.

Vehicular movement to the area was restricted. Two backhoes, a crane and lorries were used for the demolition. As a precautionary measure, an ambulance was also stationed at the spot.

“This building is demolished just because I am the district president of SDPI. BJP members of city municipality discussed about demolishing this building 15 days ago in the meeting. There was no issue on this plot. I had applied for permission in city municipality. But did not receive the same. When the matter of demolishing the building was discussed, I went to the court. After that there was no development for seven to eight months. There are many buildings which have not left set back and are built violating the rules of city municipality. I had supported the stand of Muslim girl students over the Hijab controversy. I had said that wearing Hijab is constitutional right. On March 17 we closed the shops. This is the main reason. The legal battle will continue,” said Nazeer Ahmed owner of the demolished building.

Giving clarification over the demolition of the building, Dr Uday Shetty, commissioner of city municipality said, “This was an illegal structure. No licence was sought prior to building. In 2018, an order was passed to demolish the building. There was stay order in court. Now it is removed. No GST was being paid for this building. This was the only building which did not have any licence for trading. So we have taken action as per law.”