Anti-encroachment drive at pavement temple in east Delhi runs into protests

The religious structure at the centre of the issue is located on Narwana Road in East School Block of Mandawali

Scores of residents in east Delhi’s Mandawali protested and got into confrontations with officials on Thursday after the Public Works Department (PWD) came to the spot with a bulldozer to raze a railing around a Shani temple that encroached upon a pavement, leading to tense moments before paramilitary reinfocements were called.

Locals stand around the “Shani Temple” in Mandawali while some women scuffled with security forces. (Sanjev Verma/HT Photo)

The religious structure at the centre of the issue is located on Narwana Road in East School Block of Mandawali. A part of the steel rail fencing was demolished at around 9.30am but civic agencies held off on proceeding with the drive as protesters began arriving, with many raising slogans and chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. Several women were seen getting into scuffles with paramilitary personnel deployed to restrain the protesters.

“The encroachment was on the footpath and only six to seven metres of the railing was demolished,” said a senior PWD official, requesting anonymity. “The demolition was carried out after we received information about plans for an illegal expansion of the structure,” said a second PWD official.

While some women were seen standing at the protest site with lathis, police said that there was no violence, and no injuries were reported. “We have not registered a case nor have we detained anyone. The situation is peaceful although we have kept some forces deployed at the spot,” said Amrutha Guguloth, deputy commissioner of police (east).

Locals said a small peepal plant growing in the middle of the pavement became a Shani temple and a spot of worship for them after someone placed an idol under it. When the statue was placed varied widely as locals pegged the time from five to 20 years ago.

Over the next years, a round marble slab came up around the tree, as did a steel fence. “Since some men would harass school girls at this spot, some five-six years ago we constructed a small room next to the tree to serve as a police booth. But no policeman ever used the booth,” said Ramesh Chand Sharma, a retired railway employee and a resident of the area.

As time went by, the grille was expanded to over 40 feet long and 15 feet wide, and the overall structure started blocking the pavement entirely.

“We kept some potted plants around the temple. The fence was to keep cows away from the plants,” said Rishi Kumar, a local RWA member.

“As the tree grew, more of us began seeing it as our sole place for worship since our neighbourhood lacked temples,” said Munni Devi, a woman in her 70s who sat on a chair on the road to keep the security forces away.

It was a little over 20 feet of the grill that was eventually demolished, said the PWD officer. “There are no further plans for demolition in the area as of now, but action will be taken immediately if there is any kind of new construction,” the officer added.

The protesters called it a “conspiracy” by the Delhi Government and said that a Mohalla Clinic located some 200 metres away too was set up on the same pavement. “This is a conspiracy to target our religious structures. I will protest at this spot for the next week if needed to keep the bulldozers away,” said Devi.

Residents said that they got to know about the government’s demolition plans about three-four days ago. “On Tuesday we had a meeting with the district officials who assured us that only a part of the fence would be demolished. But today they came for the entire temple,” said Rishi Kumar. There is also a Delhi Development Authority board on a piece of land behind the land saying, “Encroachers will be prosecuted”.

Meanwhile, a letter to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, Delhi minister Atishi alleged that she learnt from the PWD that the LG issued the order to demolish 14 religious structures. “The officers have told me that the then home minister Manish Sisodia in February 2023 had opposed the demolition proposal and suggested that necessary changes should be made in the projects map. But when this file was put up to you, you overturned his proposal and gave the order to demolish the religious structures,” Atishi wrote.

The minister appealed to the LG to withdraw his order to demolish the religious structures. She said the officers also informed her that LG has noted in the file that demolition of religious structures pertains to law and order, and LG is the competent authority to take a decision on this. “In future, all files related to demolition of religious structures should not be sent to the elected government. The files should be sent to you directly from the chief secretary,” she added.

HT reached out to the LG office which did not respond to queries seeking a comment.