Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav shoots a letter to collector Ilayaraja T, objects to direct orders of temple demolition

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Days after a temple in Suryadev Nagar was demolished by Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav dashed off a letter to a collector Ilayaraja T stating that he had learnt that the demolition action was carried out on the latter’s directives to municipal officials.

Objecting strongly to the direct orders by him to the municipal officials, the Mayor asked the collector to ensure that such incident does not repeat in future.

Stating that the collector’s move tarnished the image of administration, the Mayor told the collector that his order for demolishing the shrine had also irked residents and religious organization which would have resulted in a law and order situation.

On May 16, a woman lodged a complaint with the collector during public hearing that an illegally constructed temple had obstructed sunlight from reaching her house.

To this, the collector reportedly asked additional municipal commissioner Siddharth Jain to demolish the illegal encroachment. The following day demolition action was taken by the removal gang of IMC.

When Mayor-in-Council member Abhishek Sharma came to know about this he had staged a sit-in at the demolition site over the action.

On enquiry, the Mayor came to know that IMC removal gang had acted on the instructions of the collector.

To this, Bhargav wrote the letter to the collector expressing his anguish over the entire episode.

The Mayor’s letter reads, “I came to know about the incident that took place at the shrine located in Suryadev Nagar through newspapers. On reading newspapers, it appeared that the action to demolish the said religious place was done by the IMC (on its own). But on enquiry, I came to know that it was on your instructions to the IMC officials that the demolition was carried out.”

“(Following your directives and demolition action) a situation was created as the incident had irked residents and religious organizations. Law and order situation could have also created due to the incident,” the letter adds.

The missive further states, “It is very objectionable that you gave instructions to the officials of the IMC without bringing the sensitive issue like demolition of religious places to the notice of mine or other public representatives. This type of action is also against the democratic values.”

The letter adds, “It should be ensured that such incidents do not happen in future. No action should be taken without bringing to the notice of the public representatives.”

Published on: Wednesday, May 24, 2023, 02:03 PM IST