Prayagraj Development Authority demolished 3 tombs and 14 graves overnight on Friday from the Chandrashekhar Azad Park in the city. The authority was acting on the Allahabad High Court’s order to remove encroachments from the park.
Local journalist from Prayagraj said that several illegal constructions around a big Mazhar have been demolished. The journalist claimed that the Mazhar itself has not been demolished.
On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court had issued an order to the Uttar Pradesh government to demolish illegal constructions built after 1975 in Prayagraj’s Chandrashekhar Azad Park within three days. Accordingly, the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) and the district administration proceeded with the order and demolished all illegal constructions in the park.
Three small shrines raised next to an old tomb, illegal structures constructed in front of the Gyan Vriksha temple and a mosque have been dismantled in the process. According to reports, after the demolition, the administration and the PDA installed trees of three feet height on the ground where those demolished structures previously stood. More than a dozen bulldozers were deployed to demolish the encroachments as the authority had to comply with the court order within 12 pm today.
A bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice MN Bhandari and Justice Piyush Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court had issued the direction to remove the Azad Park encroachments. The High Court had issued the order while hearing a PIL filed to remove the encroachments in the park.
The PIL had said that the existence of this park is under threat as some members of the Muslim community have illegally constructed artificial graves and they are trying to convert a structure into a mosque. In this way, they want to convert the park into a graveyard and mosque, the petition had stated.
According to sources, other unlawfully built structures in the premises of Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Hindustani Academy, Ganganath Jhan Sanskrit Sansthan and other institutes located in Azad Park campus were also erased.
The demolition drive began on Thursday afternoon and lasted till Friday morning.
