Varanasi: Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the ambitious Rs 224-crore Dalmandi road widening project in Aug 2025, BJP’s Varanasi City South MLA Neelkanth Tiwari performed the Bhumipujan (ground-breaking) ceremony at the Chowk entry point of the street on Sunday, paving the way for civil works to begin from Tuesday.The 650-metre Dalmandi street will be widened into a 17.4-metre-wide road, providing another access route to Kashi Vishwanath Dham from the Naisadak point on the Lahurabir-Girjaghar crossing road. A total of 191 buildings, including six mosques, were affected either fully or partially by the project.Amid tight security arrangements and drone surveillance, the ground-breaking site was prepared some distance from the Chowk entry point. After performing the Bhumipujan rituals, Tiwari said, “Among the Rs 85,000 crore projects gifted by PM Modi to his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, covering healthcare, education, infrastructure and the strengthening of spiritual and cultural identity, the Dalmandi road widening project holds special importance.”Though the road is only 650 metres long, it will improve access not only for devotees but also for local residents, Banarasi sari traders, bullion merchants, Raja Darwaza traders and Dalmandi traders, he said. It will also enable vehicular access and support better traffic management through a planned route.“This vision was taken up with commitment by PM Modi, and the people of Kashi connected themselves with it,” Tiwari said, targeting opposition parties and alleging that they tried to malign Dalmandi and obstruct the initiative in different ways. He said residents stood with the PM’s resolve. “Today, the project has taken concrete shape, and only construction remains, expected to be completed by November for public use,” he added.Executing agency PWD’s executive engineer KK Singh said that due to the Shrawan Monday crowd, earthwork and civil works would begin from Tuesday. Initially, sewer and drinking water lines will be laid. After that, ducts will be created mainly for power cables and optical fibre or internet lines so these services can be shifted properly. Road surface construction will be done in the final phase.Regarding the work completed so far, Singh said that apart from portions of 187 demarcated buildings, including six mosques, either completely or partially, portions of four more buildings came into the alignment during demolition and were also purchased. This took the number of affected buildings to 191. He added that demolition work had been completed at over 180 of these buildings, while work was in progress on the remaining structures. The date of the Bhumipujan was decided after the alignment work became almost clear, he added.Regarding compensation distributed among the shareholders of all buildings purchased through registry, Singh said, “It reached roughly Rs 110 crore-Rs 115 crore.” Compared with the initially prepared list of building owners and shareholders, more beneficiaries, members or shareholders are likely to be added as details are finalised, he said.Due to the area being densely populated and communally sensitive, execution of the project was being considered the second-largest development initiative in the city after the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor.ACP (Dashashwamedh) Atul Anjan Tripathi, who led the forces since the beginning of the demolition drive, said, “Multiple challenges existed since the beginning of the project due to the nature of the area, which had a dense population in high-rise buildings constructed along very narrow stretches. Apart from keeping the forces motivated and mobilised for almost nine months, ensuring manual demolition, maintaining communication with locals and coordinating with all departments involved were also challenges.”There were ownership disputes, while religious sites were also on the demolition list, Tripathi said, adding that finding solutions to all these issues within the legal framework had also been challenging. “All those challenges were tackled, and now the remaining 5-10 structures would also be cleared in a day or two,” added Tripathi, who was not relieved from his office despite being transferred to Agra two months ago.
