E-Paper
Tension in city after encroachments razed
TENSION GRIPPED parts of the city following Varanasi Development Authority?s anti-encroachment drive dismantling some constructions stated to have been raised illegally. Tension was palpable in city?s Sigra area on Wednesday when a strong contingent of VDA officials accompanied by a posse of police force went on a demolition spree of the illegally raised buildings in the area.
TENSION GRIPPED parts of the city following Varanasi Development Authority’s anti-encroachment drive dismantling some constructions stated to have been raised illegally.
Tension was palpable in city’s Sigra area on Wednesday when a strong contingent of VDA officials accompanied by a posse of police force went on a demolition spree of the illegally raised buildings in the area.
As one of the demolished constructions belonged to a BJP leader Ravinder Jaiswal, who unsuccessfully contested city’s North by-poll seat on BJP ticket, a large number of party activists raised slogans against the VDA and Mulayam Singh Yadav and demanded to stop the demolition drive.
Jaiswal alleged that VDA was working as a tool of Samajwadi Party (SP) and said that this was a burning example of vindictive politics adopted by the ruling party as top floor of his building was demolished by the VDA without informing him.
He alleged that VDA never bothered to demolish illegal constructions raised by a particular community as most of them were situated in Muslim dominated localities including Madanpura, Reori Talab, Dalmandi, Ashfaq Nagar etc.
Former BJP MLA of the Cantonment Assembly segment, Jyotsana Srivastava lambasted the SP-led State government and said that it was biased politics by SP to use the VDA as a tool to demoralise the BJP workers and leaders.
Spokesperson of BJP, Rakesh Trivedi alleged that VDA has itself constructed a colony, Shikha Shakti, in which all the houses were constructed after ignoring the approved map of houses. “The Bharatiya Janata Party would launch a massive agitation against the biased policies of VDA,” he said.
A large number of police force was deployed to avert any untoward incidents. Senior police personnel rushed to the spot. VDA secretary RB Singh said that the top floor of tower was demolished because it ignored the set norms.
