Ahmedabad: The city civic body today carried out a demolition drive near the Kanch ni Masjid in the Jamalpur area. Around 10 shops that were illegally built on the land of Urdu Shala No. 3 & 4 were demolished. The Central Zone Estate Department of the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) launched the demolition operation this morning under tight police security. Using JCB machines and laborers, approximately 10 shops were dismantled.

Ellisbridge MLA Amit Shah had raised this issue in the District Coordination Committee (Sankalan) meeting, after which the legal department of the AMC issued a notice to the illegal encroachers to vacate the land. Following this, a petition demanding a stay on the demolition was filed in the Gujarat High Court. However, after the High Court did not grant a stay, the AMC carried out the operation today.

The petitioners alleged that the shops were built on land belonging to the Gujarat State Waqf Board. The trustees of Kachni Masjid claimed that they had leased the land to the AMC for 100 years for running the school. However, after the school was shifted to another location in 2017, the shops were constructed. The school board later clarified that the land had been returned to its original owner. Meanwhile, the shops were constructed without any permission from the authorities.

In another development, as part of the ongoing demolition drive in Dwarka district, illegally built religious structures, including Arab Shah Pir Baba ni Dargah in Arambhada village of Dwarka, were also razed by the authorities. The Okha Civic Body carried out the demolition in the presence of the police. It is noteworthy that the drive, which began last week, has reclaimed land worth over 50 crores in the Bet Dwarka region. DeshGujarat