GUWAHATI: A Shani Mandir located near the pavement in the Khanapara area of Guwahati was demolished on Monday. The Mandir was situated near the Directorate of Dairy Development in Khanapara.
The temple authorities have claimed they had approached the authorities earlier for an exemption of 5 feet land in the premises. The secretary of the temple declined to visit the spot when this reporter requested him for the same.
The demolition comes as part of the eviction drives carried out by the district administration in different parts of the city. The Gauhati High Court (HC) has taken a suo moto case on the unauthorised construction of religious structures erected on public land as per a report submitted from the different districts and the same as forwarded to Standing Counsel for placing before the Court.
The report found that a total of 1,980 unauthorised structures in 33 districts and as many as 1,031 of these unauthorised constructions were removed/freed/regularised. The balance 949 are yet to be removed.
As per a senior official from Deputy Commisioner's office in Guwahati, the demolitions have meanwhile been halted but it will begin again starting next Monday i.e 28th December.