Two junior BMC engineers who were beaten up by a Bandra family during a demolition drive on Wed say abuses, threats and dealing with corrupt activists has become routine for them.Two junior civic engineers who were thrashed by a Bandra family during a demolition drive on Wednesday have said that the engineers are often left to fend for themselves during such operations.“Facing an irate mob and being abused and threatened have become a part of the job and it’s weighing us down,” said junior engineer Dattu Darane, who along with his colleague from H-West ward, Anand Salve, was pulled inside the house and thrashed by Chapel Road residents Jude Gomes, his wife Joshna and their son Johnny when a BMC team attempted to demolish an illegal shed constructed by the family.The accused were arrested under the Indian Penal Code Section 353 for assaulting public servants, but civic engineers from the ward struck work on Thursday demanding stricter action and safety.Twenty nine-year-old Darane, an engineering graduate from Nashik, joined BMC only two years ago, and has already come to loathe his job. “I know of several colleagues who have refused promotion transfers to departments responsible for demolitions. It’s just too stressful. We have to deal with irate public, politicians, activists… everyone sides with the people without realising we are pulling down structures that are illegal,” Darane said.Recalling Wednesday’s experience, Salve said he and Darane reached the gaothan on 12, Chapel Road following “complaints” that the Gomes family had constructed an illegal shed.“A BMC inspection team confirmed the structure was illegal, and that demolition notices had been issued to the family. We were pushed and shoved around by a mob of around a dozen, and the family assaulted us. It was a humiliating experience,” Salve, 31, who joined BMC in 2009, told Mumbai Mirror.Senior Inspector Rajendra Kane from Bandra Police Station, who’s investigating the incident, said the officials from the civic administration hadn’t asked for police protection. Darane said it would have been a waste of time.“BMC is required to inform the police department about a demolition drive a week in advance. This works in large-scale demolition drives such as the one carried out at the Campa Cola compound. We just can’t wait for eight days to carry out minor demolitions, hence we proceed without police protection,” he said.Civic engineers said that the toughest part of their job was to deal with a set of people they call “professional complainants”. “These people call themselves activists, who basically threaten builders, file applications under the RTI Act, and submit complaints against their projects. Next, they threaten the civic officials to act on their complaints,” a senior BMC engineer said, adding that there were around 150 ‘professional complainants’ in Bandra alone.Another engineer said that last month, one such professional complainant, a woman, filed a molestation complaint against an assistant engineer from K-East Ward after he dismissed her complaint.Sainath Rajadhyaksha, general secretary, BMC Engineers’ Union, said the civic chief and the police bosses must work things out to help the engineers.“We are expected to supervise demolition of illegal structures across the city, and our work takes us to chawls and slums as well. The situation is so hostile during such drives that someone could get killed. Our engineers need police help,” he said. BMC chief Sitaram Kunte was not available for comment, even as senior engineers alleged they approached Kunte several times with their grievances.