Demolition of structures for four-laning of the national highway 58 began at the Haridwar-Dehradun stretch of the NH on Sunday morning under the supervision of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Era Infra Engineering ltd.
Half an hour after the demolition was started from RTO Chowk, Haridwar to Raiwala Chowk with the help of five JCBs, two dumpers and one excavator, the locals gathered and began protesting against the demolition. The protesters including Nitin, Kamal Patel and Rajvir Puri lay down in front of the JCBs and demanded more time to evict stating that no prior notice was given to them for eviction. SDM Haridwar City and land Acquisition Officer Dhir Singh Budhiyal reached the spot accompanied by CO City Chander Mohan Singh. The SDM rejected the demand of the protesters and warned them to desist. The protesters initially raised slogans against the State Government but later withdrew in view of the police force.
The in-charge cum manager of Era Infra, lakshman Sethi, said that survey for the work had been completed more than two years ago. He added that the project was slated to be completed by November 2014 but the land acquisition was not done in Haridwar in due time. The district administration had accorded the required land clearance about six months ago. The work is to be completed by the end of 2015 before the Ardh Kumbh Mela to be held at Haridwar in 2016, he added. Technical manager of the NHAI, Suraj Gusain said that the authority had been making announcements in the area for the past four days, informing the residents and shopkeepers to evict for facilitating work on the highway.