Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
| Photo Credit: file photo
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said the removal of unauthorised religious structures was not carried out in the wake of reports from Delhi Police that demolition in these cases could lead to law and order situations.
Last week, Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena had recalled files related to several pending infrastructure projects citing “inaction” on the part of the Delhi government. According to Raj Niwas officials, despite the recommendations of a panel to remove “unauthorised religious structures” that have held up key infrastructure projects, the Home Department, headed by Mr. Sisodia, has kept 78 such proposals from various agencies pending since May last year.
On Monday, Mr. Sisodia said, “We have to take decisions keeping in mind the people’s sentiments. So, I’m sending a recommendation to the L-G not to demolish these structures.” He added that while development is necessary, it should not be done at the cost of people’s religious beliefs.
The proposed infrastructure projects where religious structures have been identified for demolition include several flyovers, roads and housing projects by the Central government.
“Structures marked for demolition in Delhi include Sarva Mangal Siddha Peeth, Mata Vaishno Devi Dham and Shyam Math Temple. In addition, 49 temples and one mazaar have been identified for demolition under GPRA projects of the Central government in Kasturba Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Srinivaspuri, and Thyagaraj Nagar,” Mr. Sisodia said.