Ayodhya road widening project: Confrontation between shop owners and tenants routine
Confrontation between shop owners and their tenants in Ayodhya has become a routine feature as the road widening project is progressing and shops are being demolished for three roads in the temple town
Confrontation between shop owners and their tenants in Ayodhya has become a routine feature as the road widening project is progressing and shops are being demolished for three roads in the temple town.
Most of the shopkeepers affected by the road widening project are tenants.
Shop owners are in favour of the demolition drive while tenants are opposing it. Most of the compensation has been awarded to shop owners.
On Sunday, near Naya ghat police station, a tenant shopkeeper and the owner had a confrontation over repair work of the demolished shop.
Cops had to intervene to resolve the issue.
The local administration has permitted tenants to construct shops on vacant land behind demolished shops, while owners are opposing this decision.
This dispute is more evident on 13-km long Ram Path where around 500 shops will be demolished.
“Shop owners are not permitting their tenants to reconstruct demolished shops. This has led to confrontation on a routine basis between shop owners and tenants,” said Nand Lal Gupta, trader leader.
Gupta has accused the local administration of doing little to resolve this dispute.
For the road widening project, shops within 10 metres from the middle of the road on either side are being demolished at Naya ghat.
“Shop owners are deliberately creating hurdles for their tenants in repair work of demolished shops,” alleged Gupta.
The Yogi Adityanath government has set a deadline of December 2023 for completing all three pathways in Ayodhya for which it has approved ₹1000 crore.