Decades-old road widening mission accomplished

Big relief to tourists heading to Ajanta Caves.

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad:

Thanks to the G20 delegation visit to the city, after a long wait of two decades, the drive to acquire 98 properties to widen the narrow national highway passing through the Harsul village, began on Monday. The development is a big relief for the tourists visiting Ajanta Caves as there was severe wastage of time and fuel due to regular traffic congestion on this narrow road of the village.

The existing narrow strip will be converted into a four-lane road for the smooth driving of all types of vehicles. Amid tight police bandobast, the custodian of the road, the Public Works Department (PWD, National Highways section) with the help of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), kickstarted the drive with the start to finish schedule. The PWD administration assures of depositing compensation of Rs 15 crore in their bank accounts within a fortnight.

Two cases sent for reviewing

A total of 98 properties (big or small) existing on the road from the Harsul to the Muslim graveyard situated on the outskirts were acquired. Meanwhile, two property-holders sans land documents to claim their ownerships. Hence their cases have been sent for revaluation, while the notice to one property holder was served on the spot.

Meanwhile, after receiving notices from the district administration, the property owners started vacating their possessions on Sunday morning. The land acquisition process was to start in the early morning on Monday (February 13). Hence the MSEDCL disconnected the power supply of the village before the implementation of the drive.

The D-Day

It may be noted that the PWD's National Highways section, AMC’s anti-encroachment section, the office of the sub-district magistrate (SDM) and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) are involved in the task. Hence all the key officers, along with their respective squads, arrived at the spot at 8 am. The drive commenced by demolishing 8-10 houses built adjacent to the boundary wall of the Cattle Breeding Centre. Later,

occupants of a few galas made outside the Hanuman Mandir raised their objection claiming to first deposit the compensation before razing their establishments. However, the PWD officials were convinced by assuring them of depositing the money into their accounts in 15 days.

PWD executive engineer S L Galande, deputy engineer A W Ghodekar, additional municipal commissioner Ravindra Nikam, deputy collector Rameshwar Rodge, AMC designated officer Savita Sonawane, Vasant Bhoye, P B Gaoli, Syed Jamshed and others implemented the drive.

Marking of a 100-feet wide road

The AMC squad first fixed the Centrepoint and completed the marking to construct a 100-foot wide road. An empty two-storey building, opposite Apna Hotel, was demolished with poclain. The building structure was shaking and within moments it got razed down. The needle poclain also helped in the task. Many opportunists were sighted taking advantage of the situation and taking away the steel from the building debris. The villagers gathered in large numbers on road from the temple to the new high school to see the demolition.

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Religious structures in the way

It may be noted that an 80 per cent portion of the Hanuman temple is being affected. The PWD officials confirmed that the temple trust has agreed upon the acquisition of their land for the development. The shops built in front of the main mosque are affected. The partial portion of the mosque is also getting affected. Meanwhile, the AMC will be acquiring more than one acre of graveyard land for the task.

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The AMC squad pressed 4 poclains, one breaker, 10 tippers and two JCBs. The demolition of four big buildings was done by the afternoon. The frontal portion of the AMC school was also affected by the drive. The JCB was not utilised to demolish small properties. The property owners were seen demolishing their properties voluntarily to save the bricks of the walls. The debris was being lifted without wasting time. The task was demolition completed in five hours.