Demolition drive: 20 shops razed

INDORE: Indore Municipal Corporation on Saturday razed 20 shops in a residential building in Lodhi colony.
Officials said that they had earlier given a notice to the owner of the building to remove the shops but they were not shut. Early morning on Saturday, IMC officials reached the spot with heavy machines and police force and started the demolition process. The drive was scheduled to take place on Friday but due to the lack of police force, IMC did not carry out the drive.Officials said that they feared aggression from the shop owners.
As the drive started on Saturday, the shop owners gathered near the building and tried to stop the officials.
Some of them were also carrying maps and claimed that their shops were legal. However, officials went on with the drive.
"We had already issued notice regarding the structures and the shops. They were illegal," said MS Chouhan.
Chouhan said that residents of the locality had been complaining about the shops being run on residential plot and it caused a lot of problems for people living around. Officials said that this was not the first time that they had acted against the building. Some shops running in the same building had been demolished two years ago. Despite warnings given by the civic body, the owner had constructed shops against the rules.
Indore Municipal Corporation has been running drives on shops and commercial spaces running illegally on lands allotted for other purposes. They had demolished an illegal commercial structure in the parking of the residential society.
The officials are also acting against those who have not paid property taxes. Many of the shops and commercial establishments have been under fire in last one month for violating rules.