Varanasi: The final hurdle in the Rs 224-crore Dalmandi road widening project was cleared on Monday as the Langda Hafiz Mosque authorities voluntarily began demolishing the demarcated portion of the structure, marking the last major milestone in the long-pending infrastructure project.Unlike the past three to four months when elaborate security arrangements had been made to prevent any law and order issues during demolition, no additional security deployment was required as the work began peacefully.ACP (Dashashwamedh) Atul Anjan Tripathi said no additional security deployment was made, although surveillance was intensified, especially through drone cameras.The completion of the ambitious project will widen the 650-metre Dalmandi road to 17.4 metres, improving access to Gate No. 4 of Kashi Vishwanath Dham from the Naisadak point on the Lahurabir-Godowlia road. The project is expected to ease traffic congestion by shifting commuter load from other routes, particularly the Maidagin-Godowlia road leading to the shrine area.Following the demolition of 181 of the 187 demarcated buildings, either fully or partially, all eyes were on the Langda Hafiz Mosque. At the beginning of the project, the administrative team had marked the northern portion of the mosque for demolition. Besides a portion of the mosque on the upper floor, as many as 24 shops on the ground floor were affected by the demarcation.Officials of the district administration, PWD and the Langda Hafiz Mosque held several rounds of talks over the past few months to reach a consensus. The mosque committee started constructing new shops in the eastern part of the mosque before ensuring the evacuation of the affected 24 shops. Once construction of the new shops reached the final stage, the affected traders began shifting. Both sides ensured that the livelihood of those affected was impacted as little as possible.Following these developments, the demolition of the demarcated portion of the Langda Hafiz Mosque began manually on Monday morning without any prior public announcement. Mosque authorities reached the rooftop with labourers and started demolishing the portion falling within the proposed road alignment.This is the sixth mosque to be affected by the Dalmandi road widening project. Among the 181 buildings demolished, five other mosques—Nisaran Masjid, Rangeele Shah Masjid, Ali Raza Khan Masjid, Sangmarmar Masjid and Mirza Karimulla Beg Masjid—were removed either fully or partially. Portions of a musafirkhana, a madrassa and a hospital building were also razed.Officials said work on the project has been carried out after reaching a consensus with affected religious institutions, shopkeepers and local residents so that the development work is completed on time and any dispute is avoided.PWD executive engineer KK Singh said the process of removing debris is progressing at an accelerated pace, with earthwork and civil works expected to be completed by the end of the first week of August.
