CMC demolishes 5 houses

The five houses came up in Rifle Range region during last summer. Amidst protest by the residents, officials pulled down the houses.

Of the five house, the house of a certain Suresh was built near the pipeline which supplies water to the City. However, pipelines were damaged when the hillock caved in beside the house. As a result, thousands of litres of water entered the house.  CMC has incurred a loss of Rs 20 lakh owing to the damage to pipeline.  The concerned were given notice 15 days ago to evict the houses. “Since no action has been taken so far, we undertook demolition drive,” said CMC Commissioner K Srikanth Rao.

During the demolition drive, house members protested, cried and urged the officials not to go ahead with the drive.

In fact, some women threatened to commit suicide. They also expressed their anguish over politicians who visit them seeking votes.

The residents took CMC member Shivakumari to task. Shivakumari who visited the spot requested Commissioner not to go ahead with the drive.

Though the residents tried to contact CMC President P D Ponnappa, all their efforts were in vain. The neighbouring residents who came to the rescue of these residents requested the authorities to give two days time to vacate the land. “Where were the officials when we built houses. We have built houses spending thousands of rupees,” the victims said.