DAVANGERE: The widening of the Pune-Bangalore (PB) road to 120 feet by the district administration and Davangere City Corporation resulted in the demolition drive of private buildings and shops on the left side of the road from APMC yard to the BSNL office on Sunday.
The district administration demolished government buildings and compounds on Saturday. T Around 25 to 30 backhoe loaders were pressed into service under the supervision of DC Anjan Kumar, SP D Boraliniagaiah and other officials, who were present there from morning.
Kamath hotel and Virupanna Ambarkar textile shop which have catered to the needs of rural people for the last four decades were demolished on Sunday. Thousands of people gathered to witness the buildings being pulled down. The oldest shop in the area owned by Maheshwaraiah, which sold Prestige products, and many eateries which catered to the poor and rural populace, were torn down on Sunday.
The traffic on PB road from Harihar and Bangalore was stopped by the police. There was a heavy police presence at all major points. Areas adjacent to PB road suffered long hours of load shedding as the power lines were switched off by BESCOM.