Traders protest demolition of illegal construction

Siliguri: Hawker’s Corner Bybshayee Samiti and traders of Hawker’s Corner staged a protest demonstration and sat on the road when workers of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) went to the market to demolish an illegal construction.

On Tuesday, SMC workers demolished a portion of a medicine shop constructed illegally in Nivedita Market adjacent to Hawkers Corner Market. They then went to demolish an illegal construction made out of tin on the top floor of a shop inside Hawkers’ Corner Market when the traders stopped them.

When tension arose in the area over the incident, a large police force was deployed to control the situation.

The traders said that no shop in the market can be demolished without discussing the issue with them.

“These plots belonged to the Railways. The SMC cannot demolish any store without discussing with us. We won’t allow them to demolish any construction,” said Pradip Roy, secretary of the market committee.

Meanwhile, Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri said: “Discussions can be done, but the law cannot be taken into one’s own hands. Action will be taken as per law. If there is a permit for construction, we won’t demolish any store but no chaos can be tolerated.”

Due to the protest, the SMC workers had to go back without demolishing the construction.