Mumbai, Sept. 7 -- Municipal corporation authorities in Ujjain carried out partial demolition of the Medina Masjid on Tuesday, September 1, as part of the KD Gate road widening project, deploying heavy machinery and JCB bulldozers at the site. Visuals from the location showed sections of the nearly 150-year-old mosque being dismantled while workers operated equipment to clear the corridor reserved for the road. The operation also affected the Jamiatul Quraish Qassaban Masjid on KD Road, where parts of the structure were removed during the same drive.
Additional Municipal Commissioner for Simhastha Santosh Tagore indicated that the mosque occupied land reserved for the widening and that demolition was proceeding through mutual coordination between the administration and local stakeholders. As the demolition began community members protested and engaged in heated arguments with police, prompting deployment of several police personnel to prevent further escalation. Those associated with both mosques reached the site to register objections and press their concerns with officials, but removal work continued.
Municipal corporation officials, employees and police personnel remained stationed at the site throughout the operation to manage the process and maintain order, and the presence of uniformed personnel was intended to ensure that work proceeded without violence. A committee member described the religious site as having stood for between 100 and 150 years and said that community members had surrendered parts of adjoining shops to cooperate with the road widening initiative. Local clerical authorities indicated that the matter would be brought before administration officials in a scheduled meeting to seek resolution.
Local media reporting noted that the KD Road widening exercise is likely to continue in the run up to preparations for Ujjain's Simhastha Mela, 2028, and the administration has framed the work as part of broader efforts to upgrade access ahead of the event. The partial demolitions have underscored tensions between heritage and community concerns on one hand and infrastructure imperatives on the other, and municipal authorities maintained their commitment to proceed while engaging with affected parties.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.