23 shops on Mysore Road demolished for road widening

In an early morning operation on Saturday, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), with heavy police protection, demolished 23 shops abutting a mosque on Mysore Road here to make way for road widening.

While the BBMP officials claimed that the shops had encroached the already narrow stretch on Mysore Road, the traders were shocked to find out that the civic body was razing down their shops.

Imran Khan, whose tea stall was demolished, told The Hindu that he and his father had been managing this for the past 52 years. “The BBMP did not give us any notice. At least they could have given us time to vacate the shops,” he said.

Syed Abdul Matheen (75) runs a furniture shop here for the past 25 years. He said that he will now be forced to sell the furniture he salvaged at half the price. “I already have a loan of Rs. 4.5 lakhs to repay. Now with this loss, I do not know if I will be able to repay it at all,” he lamented.

It is said that the shops were rented out by the mosque. Most shops had encroached Mysore Road to an extent of 10 ft to 20 ft. A few shopkeepers alleged that the mosque authorities were hand-in-glove with the BBMP officials and had not informed them about the demolition. They claimed that only a few were told about the drive, who voluntarily vacated their shops on Friday night.

Following resistance from the shopkeepers, the BBMP gave them some time to vacate their premises. According to a senior BBMP official, the civic body had consulted the mosque authorities and had taken their consent before taking up the demolition. The official said that a part of the mosque compound would also be demolished, as it had encroached the road. “The mosque authorities have agreed to the demolition. The drive was taken up at 4.30 a.m., as we did not want to disrupt traffic.”

The official also said that the BBMP had sought police protection and around 250-300 police personnel were deployed at the spot. The shopkeepers were being convinced to vacate the premises. “We are still negotiating with them. We have assured them that we will construct shops for them once we take over the land required for road widening. The shops will be constructed on the remaining land owned by the mosque,” the official added.

Traffic jam

The demolition drive affected vehicular movement on the road. There was slow movement of traffic because of the demolition, on-going road widening work.