AYODHYA (UP), Dec 24: The Ayodhya administration has demolished two under-construction houses in the posh Saptsagar colony here, alleging that they were being built after encroachment on a pond, even as local MP Awadhesh Prasad claimed that the building owners had valid documents.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Ayodhya Vikas Dubey told PTI on Tuesday that the demolition was carried out on Sunday.
“The Saptsagar pond existed since 1952 but it was allegedly encroached upon by locals, who gradually filled it up. The pond existed till 2021 and its photograph is visible in land records. It was gradually encroached,” he said.
“On earlier occasions also, the administration had told people not to encroach the pond but they did not listen, following which the action was taken by the administration,” Dubey added.
However, Manisha Gupta, whose under-construction house was demolished by bulldozers, claimed that she had purchased land in the Saptsagar colony in 2018 and that the action was taken without any notice.
She said that after she purchased the plot and registry and mutation were done in her favour by administrative officials at the Faizabad tehsil.
Gupta said the Ayodhya Development Authority approved the map of the house according to the boundary and that she paid development fees as well. A bank loan was also obtained for the construction of the building based on a survey, she added.
Faizabad Lok Sabha MP Awadhesh Prasad told reporters that in spite of having all valid documents, houses under construction in the Saptsagar colony were demolished without giving a single notice to the occupants, making many homeless.
Prasad said the Samajwadi Party would launch a movement in Ayodhya for the victims of the bulldozer action.
Reacting to the issue, Dubey said that the Saptsagar land belongs to plot number 69, while the land of the individuals who have constructed their houses on the Saptsagar plot is registered under plot number 95. (PTI)
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