Udaipur, November 4, 2024 – In what could be called the largest land reclamation and demolition drive in Udaipur, 20 shops located at Fatehpura intersection were demolished yesterday, November 3. This was part of the expansion plans by the Udaipur Development Authority (UDA) to overcome the traffic bottleneck at the intersection. The decision to begin demolition was taken after a petition filed in the Rajasthan High Court in 2007 by shop tenants against this order was dismissed. UDA had announced that it would start the widening work post-Diwali.

When a team from the UDA and Municipal Corporation reached the site yesterday with bulldozers, shopkeepers put up a protest claiming they had been established there for 55 years. But they had no option but to watch teary-eyed from the sidelines as bulldozers went to work very quickly.

The UDA, say the tenants, had issued a notice at around 11:00 pm the previous night on November 2 giving them a 24-hour notice to vacate the shops. However, the demolition team reached the location early the next morning, even "before the 24-hour deadline had passed". The shopkeepers said it was difficult to vacate shops at such short notice and they needed at least seven days. To read the landowner's perspective, Click Here.

When the UDA arrived at the spot with a large force, there was chaos all around. By evening, all the shops covered in the demolition order had been vacated. Many traders became emotional as demolition work began.

UDA had previously sent notices for acquisition for expanding Fatehpura Chauraha under the Land Acquisition Act. This eventually led to the High Court case by tenants against the order.

This area, located in the northern block of Udaipur has been under the  scanner with respect to the Gaurav Path project. The National Highway 8 enters Udaipur city here. The UDA plans to expand the road from Fatehpura towards RK Circle on route to Nathdwara to ease travel for locals and tourists coming from Mount Abu and Nathdwara. Currently, this route is used by those traveling to and from the city. Frequent traffic jams occur on the Syphon Circle-Fatehpura route. Widening the junction is expected to alleviate this congestion.

A writ petition had been filed in the High Court by Ashok Kumar and 15 others, naming UDH, UDA, and the UDA’s land acquisition officer as parties. On October 8, Justice Dinesh Mehta of the Rajasthan High Court dismissed the stay order on this petition. The court also said that appropriate action concerning compensation under Section 30 of the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 would be taken within one month of the order, and an authority would be appointed to make the decision.

This section housed buildings more than a century old and which were a part of the city's legacy. The buildings are no longer there now, and the landscape will give rise to a new look for Fatehpura Chauraha very soon.