Raichur: Civic body evicts mandir, masjid together for highway widening

Mangalore Today News Network

Raichur, Feb 22, 2018 : A Rama mandir and a masjid have been simultaneously evicted to make way for the widening of the state highway 167 in Raichur city.

 

The eviction was carried out on Thursday at midnight by the Raichur City Municipal Council.

Nearly six feet of space has been freed up for the widening of the road.

As a precautionary measure, riot police battalions were present in strength at the spot long before the work began, and provided protection till the end.

No untoward incidents were reported and the eviction went off smoothly.

Many times earlier, the people of the two faiths led by the temple and mosque governing committees had objected to the eviction. So the eviction was being indefinitely postponed.

The opposing groups of Hindus and Muslims had given the civic body their word that they would get the places of worship removed to another location, by themselves. This assured has remained mere lip service.

Now that the deadline for the self-eviction is over, the municipal council took action and evicted the buildings with earth moving equipment without any prior notice to the committees. However, the debris has not been cleared.

The two committees, for a long time had been demanding the municipal council to evict the other place of worship first and then theirs. To resolve this deadlock, now both buildings have been demolished simultaneously.

The road between the inspection bungalow and Basaveshwara Circle (2 km) has been concreted (CC road). The Rama temple and masjid road is adjoining the CC road. The drain and footpath works are yet to be taken up on this disputed road.



courtesy:DHNS