The town of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, India, has recently seen the start of a major road widening project. The Ujjain Municipal Corporation has begun work on the KD Gate-Imli Tiraha route, which will see the demolition of approximately 485 homes, eight of which will be completely destroyed during the process. However, as yet no protest has surfaced during the work. The project is expected to take four months to complete, at a cost of Rs 7.32 crore. A team from the UMC, police administration and district administration worked together to begin the road widening work on Sunday.
Anil Kumar Jain, building officer of Zone-1, explained that the affected houses had been given compensation by way of ‘SAR’, and that the owners of the eight houses to be completely affected would receive compensation alone. Jain further stated that a mosque, a dargah and around 13 temples were located along the 1.5 km route, and a decision regarding these places of worship would be made by the district administration. Most of the residents had already begun the process of voluntarily demolishing their houses.
Congress has protested the move, calling the work an injustice against the local residents. A ‘Sadbuddhi Yajna’ was conducted on Sunday under the leadership of district corporator, Sapna Sankhla, and Congress leader, Ashok Bhati.
