Pathankot martyr Lt.Col.Niranjan Kumar ‘s house to be demolished to resurrect Benguluru’s storm drains

BENGALURU August 11: The demolition drive to resurrect Bengaluru’s storm water drains is about to claim the home of a hero: Lieutenant Colonel Niranjan Kumar ,a NSG member, who was among the seven army men who died fighting terrorists at  the Pathankot air base in January.
“It is very hard for us to digest this because we have lost our brother during Pathankot attack,” said Shahshank, Niranjan’s brother. “I would request to stop this demolition. Niranjan has died for the country and if this happens it is a shame.”

The lack of storm water drains had resulted in last month’s epic fishing on roads episode as the city got flooded with rains, say officials.

They also say they have no choice about saving the home of Niranjan Kumar’s family – which is among the 1,100 homes still marked for demolition.

“They have my sympathies, but we are undertaking a painstaking task and public good comes above private good,” said Manjunath Prasad, the civic Commissioner.

Lieutenant-Colonel Niranjan Kumar was a member of the National Security Guards.

A bomb disposal expert, 34-year-old Lt Colonel Kumar, died while defusing a grenade during the mop-up operations at the air base, where Pakistan-based Jaish-e Mohammad terrorists had launched a pre-dawn attack on January 2.

Though the family is from Kerala, they have lived for years in Bengaluru.

Over the last three days, 100 encroachments were razed. Another 1,100 buildings are on the demolition list.