NEW DELHI: Early on Sunday, an encroachment in the form of a temple on the central verge of the road near Moti Bazaar was removed by North Delhi Municipal Corporation in compliance with an order by Delhi high court.
The structure was coming in the way of completion of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project.
Teams of the corporation carried out the action amid heavy deployment of police personnel. On December 18, the high court had dismissed the plea by a religious society seeking a stay on the removal of the Hanuman temple.
Before this action, the corporation had made three attempts earlier to relocate the temple, but met with no success. The structure on the main road, which is being pedestrianised, had been declared illegal and the order for its removal was passed in 2015.
The ambitious project is being closely monitored by the high court since its inception. The project has 24 stakeholders, including PWD, north corporation and Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation.
Earlier, north corporation had tried to remove the encroachment on November 20 and 22 and December 20, but the exercise could not be carried out due to unavailability of police force and large crowds gathering near the temple.
A senior corporation official said the entire area was barricaded around midnight. “Barricades were placed at Chandni Chowk Road, Netaji Subhash Marg T-junction, near Town Hall and the entry and exit points of various katras. Both Delhi Police and CRPF personnel were present in large numbers to maintain law and order. Action started around 5.30am and it took 15 minutes to remove the structure,” added the official.
On November 14, 2019, Delhi High Court had rejected the recommendations of Delhi government’s religious committee to allow the temple to exist at the site. The order was challenged in Supreme Court, which disposed of it after the government said it would move a suitable application before the high court for further directions.
Removal of encroachments remains a key hurdle in the timely execution of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project, the last deadline for which was December 31, 2020. Last month, Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation had noted that the delay in removal of encroachment from the colonnade at Fountain Chowk was not only causing hindrance to the movement of pedestrians, but also their safety.