New Delhi: A midnight demolition drive was carried out on Max Hospital Road in Shalimar Bagh amid heavy security deployment, with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) removing portions of a mosque and several houses.The action began late Tuesday evening and continued till early Wednesday morning. Local residents and members of the mosque committee alleged there was no adequate prior information and they were given little time to remove their belongings from the religious structure.Sources in MCD, however, said notices had been served before the demolition. The action, they added, was part of the ongoing process to clear structures falling within the road-widening alignment. Demolition of several other structures along the same stretch had been carried out earlier, they said.There was no immediate response from MCD.Mohammad Shamsad Ansari, a resident, said bulldozers and security personnel began arriving in the area around 8pm Tuesday. “They started demolishing portions of the mosque around 12-1am without waiting for members of the mosque committee. Little time was given to people to vacate, and the belongings kept inside the religious place could not be removed or shifted,” he alleged.Ansari said the first and second floors of the mosque were termed illegal by the civic authorities and demolished. “This mosque is many years old. If these portions are being called illegal, then questions arise about the status of other structures in the area as well,” he said.Another resident said while members of the mosque committee had earlier been called for a meeting by MCD, they had not been informed that the structure would be demolished.Questioning the demolition of the mosque’s portions, Ranjana, another resident, said, “Enough space for constructing a two-lane road had been created after a major demolition action in April. Work on the drains along the side of the road facing the mosque was also underway.”Residents also raised concerns about the impact of the demolition on tenants and families living in the affected houses. “Many residents have limited resources and belongings, and are struggling to meet their daily needs. So, removing these structures haphazardly is not fair,” Ranjana said.
