The land will be used to expand the vehicular parking facility and construct a Pravachan Hall (sermon hall) as part of the ambitious preparations for the 2028 Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh)
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district on Saturday demolished a mosque named Takiya and 257 homes to pave the way for expanding the Mahakaleshwar Temple Corridor Project.
The demolition drive in Nizamuddin Colony was carried out amid heavy deployment of police force. Senior administrative officials were also present. The police said the residents were served notices and given compensation.
However, several residents said they were only served a 24-hour notice.
Media reports quoted residents as saying that notices were served at 5 pm on Friday and the demolition process began the next morning. They did not get even 12 hours to vacate the homes, they maintained.
Reports said bulldozers entered the area at sunrise when several occupants were still asleep and woke up to announcements on loudspeakers about the beginning of the demolition operation. Startled residents then began collecting whatever they could and vacating their abodes before the marauding bulldozers were put into service.
There were heart-rending scenes as the demolition began. Several women and children were seen crying inconsolably and a 17-year-old girl, Sofia, fell unconscious after seeing her house being razed to the ground.
According to officials, the government has paid Rs 33 crore, out of a total of Rs 66 crore, in compensation to the residents evicted from the area before Saturday’s demolition process.
The vacated and flattened land will be used to expand the vehicular parking facility and construct a Pravachan Hall (sermon hall) as part of the ambitious preparations for the 2028 Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh).
Heavy police force was deployed in the entire area to prevent any resistance and opposition from the locals.
“Out of the 257 permanent structures, barring 17-18, all (among them a religious structure) will be removed, as the land acquisition process has been duly fulfilled by making payment of Rs 33 crores to the residents there. Those structures, whose owners/occupants have got stay from the court, however, will not be touched,” Ujjain District Collector Neeraj Singh was quoted by the media as saying on Saturday.
The entire process was supervised by Additional District Collector Anukul Jain and Additional SP Nitesh Bhargava.
“An area near the Shakti Path of Mahakal Corridor was marked for construction. The administration has acquired it and after that, structures are being removed. We have been deployed here to prevent any law and order breaking down in the region,” ASP Bhargava said.