Varanasi: As part of widening the 650-meter Dalmandi road to improve access for Kashi Vishwanath Dham, authorities on Wednesday demolishing the parts of five mosques demarcated in the plan, amid tight security.Among 187 buildings demarcated for complete or partial demolition after purchase by PWD for this Rs 224-crore project are Langde Hafiz Masjid, Nesaran ki Masjid, Rangile Shah Masjid, Ali Raza Masjid, Sangmarmar Masjid and Mirza Karimullah Beg Masjid.Except the authorities of Langde Hafiz masjid, who sought refuge of High Court against purchase and partial demolition, the management and authorities of the other five mosques agreed to give up the demarcated portions following marathon negotiations with a team of officials of district administration over past several months. The district administration succeeded in convincing the authorities of those mosques to cooperate for successful execution of ambitious project.The officials said after registry of the property of those mosques in favour of PWD, they waited till Ashura (10th day of Muharram) to decide days for demolition of the portions of those mosques.Early Wednesday morning, heavy force including police, PAC, CRPF and RAF fortified Dalmandi. After ensuring complete evacuation of the main street and isolating it by fixing tin sheets at each entry point, officials sent around 200 labourers. Even media was kept meters away from those tin sheet covered entry points.Activities, which could be witnessed from adjacent buildings, showed that initially the mosque management was on the terrace of Masjid Mirza Karimullah Beg behind Chowk police station building. Later, labourers arrived and started demolition work. Similarly, authorities and management of the Nesaran, Rangile Shah, Ali Raza and Sangmarmar mosques monitored the demolition work from terrace of their respective buildings.A big band of senior officials of district administration and police was present in and around Dalmandi, which was under drone camera surveillance.Officials said only the portions falling within the limits of the road widening were removed.Earlier, PWD, Varanasi Development Authority and Varanasi Municipal Corporations ensured demolition of around 150 buildings. Against the registry of 105 buildings, excluding mosques, PWD had paid over Rs 62 crore among owners of the buildings.The Rs 224-crore project will convert the excessively bottlenecked 650 meter Dalmandi street into a 17.4 metre-wide road and improve access to Kashi Vishwanath Dham’s gate-4 from the Naisadak point on Lahurabir-Godowlia road by shifting load of commuters from other roads, especially the Maidagin-Godowlia route, leading to shrine area.
