Varanasi: The process of razing five buildings, which were left during the initial phase of demolition for the Dalmandi road widening project, was started amid tight security arrangements on Monday.“Of 187 demarcated buildings, including six mosques, 182 were demolished, while five were left. These buildings were acquired through special land acquisition officer (SLO). The compensation amount was deposited in SLO court and after getting its order, the demolition of these five buildings started on Monday,” said PWD executive engineer KK Singh.ACP (Dashaswamedh) Atul Anjan Tripathi said that before beginning demolition of these five buildings, sufficient police force, including women cops, was deployed in and around the area where the work was scheduled on Monday. Maximum work on all these five buildings has been completed, he added.Singh said that the underground work for the laying of sewer lines and water pipelines is in progress. These works will be completed in a maximum of 45 days, after which the work for road construction will be started with an aim to finish the project in Dec, he said.After April 2025, PWD started surveying Dalmandi’s 650-metre stretch, which had a width varying from a few feet to about three to nine metres at places, to convert it into a 17.4-metre-wide model road for improving access to Gate-4 of Kashi Vishwanath Dham from Naisadak point on Lahurabir-Godowlia road. Following measurement of buildings and related preparatory work by PWD, the estimate was prepared and on July 22, 2025, the UP cabinet approved the project of Rs 224 crore, in which the widened stretch will have a 10-metre carriageway and footpaths of 3.2–3.7 metres on each side.The foundation laying of the project, which will ease congestion on routes like Maidagin-Godowlia, was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Aug 2025 visit. It was followed by the beginning of the process of serving notices on owners of buildings to purchase their properties in Oct 2025, and the demolition work started in phases.With the progress in demolition work, the total number of affected buildings reached 191, including six mosques, which were affected completely or partially to give way to the project. Officials of the district administration, land revenue department and PWD managed to purchase most of the buildings or demarcated portions through negotiation. But five buildings could not be purchased before the PWD and supporting departments’ demolition drive ended at the end of July.BJP city south MLA Neelkanth Tiwari performed bhumipujan rituals at Chowk entrance to the street on Aug 9, after which underground works began.
