The administration at Udaipur is in top gear nowadays as far as renovation and infrastructure enhancing activities for Udaipur are concerned. Under the previous (Congress) Government, a few projects related to enhancing of infrastructure in Udaipur, especially those related to road networks were concerned, were approved and budget was allocated.

After the Assembly Elections, these projects in addition to a supposed action against encroachment is being re-started. One of these was related to the elevated road between Fatehpura to Sukhadia Circle at a cost of Rs 100 Cr and then another one from the Collectors Bungalor to the City Railway Station, at a cost of Rs 250 Cr, to take care of the existing problems of traffic congestion and resultant road blockages.. While the latter is still on the drawing board, the former project related to the elevated road from Fatehpura to Sukhadia Circle is being looked at from a different angle, and the elevated road project at Fatehpura has been stalled and replaced with the road widening project. For a long time, the bottleneck at Fatehpura has been a matter of concern and as time was passing the traffic congestion was getting unbearable both for the vehicles on the road as well as for the residents and shopkeepers of the area.

A month ago, the UDA entered a settlement agreement with one of the land owners on the north western side of the Fatehpura Circle, leading to the Bhuwana Circle. As per media reports, the land owner of an 8,0000 sqft area adjacent to the Railway Training premises was offered Rs 19 Lakh for the constructed property and an alternate property equivalent to Rs 3 Cr (worth of the land acquired by the UDA) was offered to the land owner. The land owner agreed to both these offers and this resulted in the demolition of the construction on one side of the Fatehpura Circle, with the UDA acquiring 8,000sqft of land.

The UDA, is now working on similar arrangement with the land owners on the other side of the Circle, facing the 8,000sqft land that the UDA has acquired. The land owners, in conversation with UdaipurTimes, said that they had agreed to cooperate with the Urban Improvement Trust since the time they were approached by the UIT, which is more than 20 years ago. The land owner had agreed to government approved compensation in lieu of the land, but the tenants of the shops on the said property approached the High Court and got a stay order. It has been almost 20 years since. The land owners, belonging to the Dawoodi Bohra community, have said that they are still ready to cooperate, but neither has the UDA approached the land owner with a fresh proposal, nor has there been any conversation between the UDA/UMC and the tenants towards a mutually agreeable solution/compensation, so as to take the Fatehpura Road Widening Projects to its logical conclusion. Once negotiations are done and agreements are in place, the next part of the work will be draw plans for the circle, so as to improve the flow of traffic, which might mean underpasses in the area.

History of the Fatehpura Chauraha

It was known as Aadi Sadak (or Cross Roads) for a long time as far back as the history of Udaipur goes. Initially, there was a very narrow road, measuring hardly 10-15 feet, which was used for walking or for vehicles. At the time of road construction, these very same land owners agreed to government compensation and went back 20-25feet on either side in two tranches, hence creating space for the road on either side - this is the road we see today. From what was conveyed to us from one of the land owners, the UIT had given them a notice in 2004. The land owner took the tenants to the UIT and a discussion was held. The land owners perspective is that the shop keepers (tenants) have been doing their business here for a long time and that their livelihood should not be affected. However, in the absence of mutually agreeable compensation with the shop keepers, the matter was in abeyance, till date. Hence, the stay order that media is talking about, has been there since 2004 without any consensus between the parties.  The shops and the small rooms on the first floor measure around 12,000 sqft, and have been constructed with permissions from the UIT. In 1985, the land owner says, UIT had even approved a complex on the land behind these shops, if the land owners hands over the shop area to the UIT. So, while all this time there have been talks of flyover, underpass, road widening, etc. the matter of the fact is that neither has the UDA approached the land owner with a fresh proposal, nor has there been any conversation between the UDA/UMC and the tenants.