Protest against demolition of 40 houses in Patna

Patna: The residents of Patna City are angry after the district administration demolished 40 houses for the Patna Metro project on Wednesday.

As per the layout plan of Patna Metro, 76 acres of land at the Pahadi locality is earmarked for the project near ‘zero mile.’

The authorities had already served notices to the owners of the 40 houses to vacate the place but they continued to stay put.

An official said, “The people have already been served a notice to vacate the place, but they did not comply. We had no other option but to go ahead with the demolition.”

Meanwhile, the residents claimed that a case has been filed in Patna High Court and the matter is sub judice.

The court has not taken any decision in this matter and still the Patna district administration has demolished their houses without prior information.

However, the official said, “If a notice has been served for a public project there is a clause that states that if a case is filed after the notice has been issued then the administration can go ahead and take appropriate action.”

The residents claimed that the state government has not given compensation to the owners of the houses as well.

Following the demolition, the residents protested against the Nitish Kumar Government for rendering them homeless.

In view of the protest, a large number of police personnel were deployed at the place to avoid any untoward incident.