De-notified land belongs to farmers and govt, not Army: Ayodhya officials
Though the land does not belong to the army, under a pre-independence law, every 5 years it used to be designated for Army’s firing practise through regular notifications. But it had never been put to use by the army for decades, says official
LUCKNOW Amidst the controversy over de-notification of the Army’s field firing range in Ayodhya, authorities in the temple town on Thursday claimed that the land in question did not belong to the Army and there had been no firing practise here for decades.
In a rebuttal to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s claim that the land in Manjha Jamthara village belonged to the Army, a senior official of the Ayodhya administration said: “The land in question is located in Manjha Jamthara village. It belongs to the farmers and the state government.”
“Though the land does not belong to the army, under a pre-independence law, every 5 years it used to be designated for Army’s firing practise through regular notifications. But it had never been put to use by the army for several decades,” added the official.
The land is near Ram temple and had been denotified to ensure safety and security of villagers, pilgrims, and tourists. “Allowing firing practise here would have posed a threat to human life,” he added. Manjha Jamthara is around 2-3 km from Bandha Road (behind the temple). However, it is around 6-7 km away from the Ram temple, if one takes the main road to commute.
According to the Ayodhya Master Plan 2031, the designated land use of this area is ‘park and open space’.
Land in Ayodhya’s Manjha Jamthara is not for commercial use. The entire area is open, most of which is Nazul (government) land. At present, there is no construction activity in the area barring a sewage treatment plant project, the district administration clarified.
The Yogi Adityanath government had proposed a museum on Indian temple architecture in Manjha Jamthara and officials gave a presentation of the project to PM Narendra Modi in September 2023.
“Anyone purchasing land in this area must comply with these regulations and cannot use it for any other purpose. Therefore, denotifying this land will not benefit any private entity or business,” added the official.
The Ayodhya administration allotted 55 acres of nazul (government) land in Manjha Jamthara to the state tourism department for the project. At present, the land use is being changed for the project, said Satyendra Singh, secretary, Ayodhya Development Authority.