Jaipur: For families and shopkeepers along New Sanganer Road, the dust of demolition has paused, but the fear has not.A day after protests forced Jaipur Development Authority teams to retreat from the Gurjar ki Thadi-Sodala stretch, the agency decided to seek more time from the high court before resuming its widening drive.At a meeting Friday, officials resolved to request an extension at the next hearing on Oct 14, hoping to hold off wider action until Diwali.DIG (enforcement wing) Anand Sharma said the authority had earlier sought four weeks to clear encroachments. “We decided to remove structures earmarked as encroachments only where JDA pattas were involved. Now, we have decided to extend demolition of all properties till Diwali. We are waiting for fresh directives from court on Oct 14,” he said.The decision followed a tense Thursday when enforcement staff reached the area and were met by angry residents and traders. Effigies and tyres were burnt as people pleaded for time to save shops, homes and livelihoods built over decades.Sources disclosed newly appointed deputy mayor Saroj Kanwar of Jaipur Municipal Corporation – who herself is a resident of one of the affected wards – raised the matter with chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, after which the authority reassessed its immediate plan.For traders, the pause is not a victory, only breathing space. “If JDA truly defers the demolition drive through the court, we will get time to move our petitions for a stay in the high court. If the high court rejects them, we may appeal in the Supreme Court,” said Pawan Sahu, chairperson of the local traders’ association.Four shop owners have already secured stays from the JDA tribunal. Others had begun emptying counters, packing goods and hiring masons to dismantle railings before bulldozers arrived.“Some families had shifted belongings. Some had started breaking parts of their own houses,” said Jitendra Sharma. “This gives them some relief, at least until Diwali.”
