Varanasi: Demolition work for the Dalmandi road widening project continued to expand on Tuesday, as public works department (PWD) teams began pulling down 10 newly acquired sections of marked buildings, including a madrassa.At the Musafir Khana site, a 125-square-foot demarcated area, workers carried out manual demolition on the upper floors of the structure.The joint team of the PWD and district administration has stepped up demolition work since May 9, deploying additional earthmovers and bulldozers in Dalmandi to bring down 45 structures, including 15 newly acquired portions out of 187 marked buildings.“With foolproof security arrangements and aerial drone surveillance, the demolition is progressing peacefully in Dalmandi. Work has also begun on newly purchased portions of 10 buildings from Tuesday,” said ACP Dashashwamedh, Atul Anjan Tripathi, after visiting the site following the day’s operations in the evening.He said that out of the 10 buildings where demolition has begun, one is a madrassa. Labourers continued manual demolition work on the upper floors of Musafir Khana, the process that started on Monday.PWD executive engineer KK Singh, who is heading the department’s team, said that 125 square feet of the Musafir Khana had been demarcated for acquisition and demolition. He added that after convincing the waqf managing the property and paying compensation, the demolition work was initiated.Gyanvapi mosque management committee, Anjuman Intejamia Masajit’s joint secretary SM Yasin, said, though the waqf managing the Musafir Khana is not associated with them, it is in their knowledge that 12 properties are associated with different waqf management committees in Dalmandi which will be affected during road widening drive. No Musafir Khana management person, who talked with PWD, were in their contact.Before accelerating the demolition of acquired structures, the PWD had finalised a list of 45 buildings, including 15 newly purchased ones. Officials said that prior to this phase, demolition work on 60 buildings had already been completed.To improve access to Kashi Vishwanath Dham’s gate-4 from the Naisadak point on the Lahurabir-Godowlia road, and to shift load from other roads, especially the Maidagin-Godowlia route, the project of Rs 224 crore was launched to convert the 650 metre Dalmandi road into a 17.4 metre-wide road by purchasing or acquiring a total of 187 buildings and razing them.
