House of Lt Col Niranjan, who died in the Pathankot attack in January, has appeared in the BBMP’s list of encroachments.
Like everyone else, Niranjan’s family too was shocked on Friday when BBMP officials turned up for a survey at their house in BEML Layout in Vidyaranyapura. They realised that a part of their house blocked the storm water drain. Following the recent flooding in several areas, the BBMP has been demolishing structures which have encroached on storm water drains.
“The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike have marked about four feet into the area were the house stands. But they have not told us anything personally. What we are worried about is the pillar that supports the first floor. We want to ask for a little more time so that alternate arrangements can be made,” said Shashank, Niranjan’s brother.
NDTV quoted BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad saying, “They have my sympathies, but we are undertaking a painstaking task and public good comes above private good.”
34-year-old Niranjan, who was a part of the bomb-disposal squad, died while defusing a grenade during the mop-up operations at the Pathankot air base where Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had launched a pre-dawn attack on January 2.
The family hails from Kerala but have lived in Bengaluru for many years.