Uttar Pradesh: Shravasti administration carries out demolition drive on encroachments

Shravasti (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 20 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh's Shravasti district administration initiated bulldozer action against encroachments on Wednesday, with unauthorised shops and houses being demolished in heavy police presence.
Amid heavy police presence, a crowd of people gathered while the JCB machine was brought in to demolish the illegal structures.
The demolition drive is part of the ongoing effort of the state government to clear illegal structures across the state. In Shravasti itself, 149 illegal structures have been identified, with notices being given to all of them. 140 structures have been sealed, and 37 others have been demolished, according to an official statement.
On August 7, the state government demolished 130 unauthorised constructions, sealed 198 and has served notices to 223 along Indo-Nepal borders spanning seven districts of the state in the last two months as part of an ongoing crackdown on illegal encroachments.
The crackdown being carried out on illegal structures following the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath includes Eidgahs, madrasas, and mazars among others.
The crackdown has targeted illegal structures across Pilibhit, Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Siddharthnagar, and Maharajganj, with Shravasti topping the list with action against 149 encroachments.
Shravasti District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Dwivedi informed that, as per CM Yogi Adityanath's directive, action has been taken against illegal mosques, Eidgahs, madarsas, and mazars built on both government and private land within 10 km of the Indo-Nepal border.
Meanwhile in Lakhimpur Kheri, District Magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal informed that a total of 13 illegal constructions have been identified in the district, of which three have been demolished, 10 sealed, and one served notice.
In Siddharthnagar, 23 illegal structures were identified; notices were issued to two, and 21 were demolished. In Bahraich, 25 such structures were found, with five sealed and 15 demolished.
In Pilibhit, 2 illegal constructions were identified, both of which have been demolished. In Balrampur, 41 illegal constructions were identified, of which 1 was served a notice, 19 sealed, and 21 demolished.
Similarly, action has been taken against 45 identified illegal constructions in Maharajganj, of which 24 have been sealed and 31 demolished. (ANI)