More than 200 residents of Bokaro’s Sector 12 confronted officials outside the residence of a senior Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) executive on Wednesday, opposing an evacuation order covering 1,242 quarters declared structurally unsafe. The residents demanded that the buildings be repaired instead of being vacated, while BSL maintained that routine repairs could not address the structural problems identified in the housing blocks.
The protest took place outside the residence of BSL executive director (HR) Rajshree Banerjee. Police and BSL security personnel formed a two-tier cordon around the property, but some protesters crossed the barricades and reached the main gate. A scuffle followed between protesters and home guards, according to the report.
The demonstration included several women and was organised under the banner of the Awas Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. The protesters were largely wives and family members of former BSL officials. During the confrontation, a heated exchange took place between a woman constable and protesters. The residents alleged that the constable slapped one woman; the report did not include an independent confirmation of the allegation.
“We all want the buildings to be repaired instead of being vacated,” protester Pummy Kumari said during the demonstration. The demand places the immediate safety concerns identified by BSL against residents’ concerns about displacement and the loss of access to their existing homes.
BSL chief of communications Manikant Dhan said 1,242 quarters across 149 Sector 12 blocks had been declared unsafe by experts from the National Institute of Technology, Patna, nearly two years ago. According to Dhan, routine repairs could not resolve the structural problems in the buildings.
The dispute therefore centres on whether the quarters can be made habitable through repairs or whether residents must shift to alternative accommodation. BSL said eligible occupants had been allotted alternative quarters in phases and had been repeatedly asked to move. The report did not specify the nature of the structural defects, the repair cost, the evacuation deadline or the detailed criteria used to determine eligibility for alternative quarters.
The protest also highlights the administrative challenge involved in managing large industrial housing estates where residential occupation, building safety and employee or former-employee entitlements overlap. A declaration that housing blocks are unsafe requires residents to relocate, but the process can trigger resistance when occupants question the assessment, the quality of replacement housing or the terms of relocation.
The Awas Bachao Sangharsh Samiti said the agitation would continue if its demands were not addressed. BSL’s stated position remains that the unsafe quarters cannot be made secure through routine repairs and that alternative accommodation has already been provided in phases to eligible occupants.
